"Makes no sense": New road rule baffles Aussie drivers
Earlier this week, Victoria introduced a new rule – the P-turn – to their roads, which aimed to reducing congestion and improving traffic flow.
But it looks like the new P-turn, implemented at the notoriously congested intersection at Hoddle and Johnston streets in Collingwood, is troubling road users.
So how exactly does it work? The P-turn asks drivers who want to turn right from Hoddle St onto Johnston St to pass through the intersection and then do a U-turn across three lanes before turning left onto Johnston Street.
If you’re coming the other way, drivers wanting to turn right onto Hoddle St first have to turn left, then perform the U-turn and travel through the intersection.
Still confused? Watch the video below:
But it looks like the rule is bamboozling some drivers.
Insurance and roadside assistance specialists RACV said the P-turn is problematic.
“The term itself is of US origin and makes sense if you drive on the right-hand side of the road. But we don’t, which makes it confusing,” the organisation said in a statement.
“It certainly doesn’t look like a ‘P’ when you drive on the left side of the road. We’ve been calling it the ‘remote right turn’ because it better describes what a driver has to do.”
The group points to one of the problems with the P-turn is that it “can be confusing to new or infrequent users of the intersection”.
“The idea that to turn right you need to go past the location and complete a U-turn ... could be confusing. On congested roads, a driver may be in the right lane to turn right then find they need to be in the left lane to turn left.”
A number of drivers agreed, taking to social media to express their scepticism about the P-turn.
“I have been thinking about the P-turn on Hoddle St all week and it still genuinely makes no sense,” journalist Denham Sadler wrote.
Belinda Barnet said it had taken her “a decade to master” the hook turn and “you will need a PhD in mathematics to do” the P-turn.
Lauren Tomasi wrote: “I still can’t fathom the concept of a hook turn, and now Melbourne is introducing the P-turn? I can’t see this ending well for me.”