hir wrote:Taffy wrote:"Areas of white diagonal stripes or chevrons painted on the road. These are to separate traffic lanes or to protect traffic turning right.
If the area is bordered by a broken white line, you should not enter the area unless it is necessary and you can see that it is safe to do so."
Can somebody please explain the use of the word "necessary"...
From a legal standpoint, which is probably all that matters in regard to the OP's question, the answer is that only a court would be able, definitively, to answer this question. And, the answer would depend upon the circumstances of the case put before it.
I suspect the wording of the legislation is deliberately vague. Vague enough so that minor, inconsequential, encroachment that causes nobody any harm or inconvenience will not be sufficient to warrant prosecution, whereas the more aggressive or egregious encroachment into the hatched area that causes concern to other road users and has the potential to be a danger to other road users may be prosecuted under the law. It presumably would be used in supporting a prosecution for driving without due care and attention etc; not as an infraction in its own right.
My guess is that the "necessary" requirement would only come into play if one was attempting to justify, or defend, another more serious accusation. Does anyone have knowledge of a prosecution where the police have claimed that it simply wasn't necessary to enter the hatched area and on that basis alone decided to prosecute?
In which case surely it is not the entering of the dashed white lines area that is the issue - but the bad driving?
so they would basically need to make a case for prosecution based on the driving, not the infringement of the white lines - which is not an infringement...
which basically concludes - no issues, you can enter them whenever you wish - there is no law against crossing a dashed white line - plenty of laws against not being an idiot while driving
Alasdair