Turning Left on Green: The Controversy!
Oh boy, this one sure struck a cord!
I received a letter from a viewer about pulling out to the middle of the intersection when turning left on green. He says he is tired of people waiting behind the stop line instead of pulling out, waiting until traffic clears, and turning left. He says in California, that’s how they do it. Clark, the man who wrote me, also pointed out that if people don’t pull out, he honks his horn at them!
Well the letters came in after that. Many of you agree it’s annoying when people don’t pull out. And, many of you disagreed, telling Clark to calm down and chill out or go back to California!
Here’s the deal. It’s not the safest thing to do when you pull out into the intersection, because if an emergency vehicle is trying to get through, you would be in the way. BUT, it is NOT ILLEGAL to pull out either. In fact, if you do, and the light turns red… the entire intersection must yield to you.
Just remember, you are NOT obligated to pull out. So Clark, you really shouldn’t honk your horn.
The Metro Police Traffic Sergeant helps break it down. Here is what he said:
Here are some general rules, you cannot stop and block a crosswalk. So, if a car in front of you is in the intersection waiting, you must wait behind the stop bar/crosswalk. Drivers are not obligated to make those left turns, and the drivers behind them need to relax, calm down, and realize that honking your horn might only aggravate the situation.
One more thing to think about, yellow means slow down and prepare to stop!! Not speed up and try to beat the light. The law is clear, you must “Slow down and use Due Care” when entering ANY intersection. So those drivers that speed up to make the light are commiting a Due Care violation.
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So, bottom line: If you stop, stop behind the bar or crosswalk. If you pull out, yield to traffic and only turn when it’s clear. Don’t honk your horn because drivers are not obligated to pull out and turn left. It might be safer to stay back, so emergency vehicles can get through the intersection if need be.
I hope this all helps! Feel free to comment on what you think. 
Tags: green light, left turns, pulling out
Categories: traffic
November 24th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Dayna,
I have a question about the left lane on the freeway. I’ve lived and driven in many states and was curious about NV law regarding the left lane. I think I saw a question on the NV driving test referring to the left lane as the passing lane. In CA there are signs posted stating slower traffic keep right, although ignored. When I first moved to NV about five years ago, drivers would move out of the passing lane automatically, but now it seems to be the cruising lane, which forces faster traffic to pass on the right lanes. This causes more problems with the merging traffic onto the freeway. Is this a result of so many CA implants into NV or am I missing something?
I appreciate any response you may provide.
Thankyou,
James
November 24th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Well, once again from the “common sense” corner here comes James.
**cheering**
When you approach an intersection which has a permissive green ball (that means that the left turn arrow is OFF, but you are still allowed to turn left on the green ball provided you can do so safely, without causing an accident with oncoming traffic), why not do what I do?
As you are approaching this intersection with the intention of turning left, instead of staring at the end of your hood, or 10 feet in front of your car – like so many Vegas drivers do – why not pay attention a little farther down the road and begin analyzing the odds of being able to turn left on that green light?
Most of our intersections have those nifty little crosswalk countdown timers. In most intersections, that countdown timer will reach ZERO right as your traffic signal turns yellow. You can look ahead to the crosswalk timer and see how much time you have left before the green light goes yellow. If you still have ample time on the crosswalk timer, look at oncoming traffic. If there’s a solid wall of traffic going the opposite direction, odds are you’re not going to make it, and if you try, you’ll be stuck in the middle of the intersection while your light goes yellow, then goes red, then the 3 people going the other way run the red light. By the time you can go, the other (perpendicular) side of the intersection has had a green for like 5 seconds and people are pissed at you for sitting there blocking the way and people like me call you a big dummy.
If you look ahead and see that you have enough time left before the yellow, and notice that traffic is sparse, or there is a decent break in the flow, THEN go ahead, pull out and wait to turn.
Drive smarter, not harder.
November 24th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Ok, wait behind the limit line until you have an opening, very unlikely. The only chance you have is when the signal changes and then you have a chance to make your left turn. Maybe, two cars can make that without being caught over the limit line. If you wait behind the limit line for an opportunity, it may be a while, maybe even several cycles before it comes, if you play this to the letter. Thus, now you are not making any progress and could, technically, get cited for obstructing traffic.
I think it relies on the opposing drivers to ‘be cool’ and accept that you have stop when the light turns yellow, allowing other drivers to complete their turn (just as you would like them to do for you).
From what I’ve seen, the majority of the accidents occur when someone becomes greedy and runs the yellow light, just because they ‘can’.
November 25th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Oh my goodness, there is actually someone out there that can analize the roads like I do. I watch the crosswalk timers too! They make it so much easier when watching traffic to see if you can turn wether it be a right OR left turn. So much easier to pull out in front of on coming traffic. Wow James, just wow. You can always hit it right on! I know people don’t like what you have to say sometimes but damn! ;o)
OH how about the people turning LEFT – only have a green light not an ARROW, and turn in front of the people that are making RIGHT turns. Last time I checked I could have sworn that people turning RIGHT have the right of way on a green light, and the people turning LEFT are supposed to YEILD to them??!!?!!!
November 26th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Yes, the left lane is a passing lane, you are NOT supposed to travel in it, you are supposed to move over once you pass. That lane needs to stay open for Police, Emergency Vehicles, etc.
November 26th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
You know what else bugs me? (Well, a lot, but here’s something related to this topic) Okay, you have someone going north who is trying to make a legal U-turn on a green light to go south. Someone on the other side of the intersection who’s facing east is trying to turn right on red to go south, and they both go at the same time, nearly causing a crash.
Everyone needs to know that while it is legal to turn right on red, you are required to do so safely and YIELD to anyone else who may be moving. Why? Because YOU HAVE A RED LIGHT!! The guy who’s making a U-turn on a green light has the right of way, please don’t make your right on red at the same time, you must yield.
Think of it like a hand of poker, his green light beats your red light. If there is a crash, the person who turned right on red without yielding to someone who had a green light gets the ticket. And remember, all fines are doubled if there’s a crash involved.
November 26th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Okay, I probably need to clarify my statment on the right turns. I was talking about the people turn left that only have a green light (not arrow), which means the people on the opposite side of the street turning right have a green light as well, want to turn onto the same street. At the same time, the people turning left are supposed to yeild to the people turning right.
I wasn’t sure if you (James) were commenting on my statment before or not…??!
November 29th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Not really commenting on your comment, Adema. You had just reminded me of the other thing I commented about. Hehehe.
December 1st, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Oh, okay then…
) HAHA!
March 12th, 2009 at 9:45 am
When making a right turn you HAVE to turn into the righthand lane, when making a left hand turn you HAVE to turn into the left hand lane, both turns can be done at the same time, nobody has to yeild in this situation unless the street your turning onto only has 1 lane on it
March 19th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Ok, As it’s been stated already, the car going south turning right HAS the right of way OVER the car going North about to turn left, that’s regardless of how many lanes there are. Do you honestly think that in this town, that everyone is going stay in the far right lane after turning right? If you do, then you saw Morgan Freeman, Driving Miss Daisy again..People who turn like that at the same time, are the reason why some folks just stop in the middle of the right turn lane(with their right blinker on) to let the guy turning left go. I bet you wouldn’t want to be behind the guy who stopped now would ya Rob?