The SOP in LA (where the car is king) for left turns is for as many cars as possible to creep into the intersection as the light turns green, this is normally 1-2 cars, but at some very big intersections three cars can make it.
If it’s clear, the first car goes left and everybody else in line moves up. If you’re still in the intersection once the light turns red, then you complete your left turn to clear the intersection.
Anticipating this, traffic engineers out here have timed nearly every signal to have about a 3 second period where there are red lights in every direction.
I’ve very rarely seen Allandale’s system where the first car waiting to make a left turn goes before everyone else. People who do that out here are definitely not appreciated.
In NYC this is referred to as don’t block the box. The ‘box’ is the intersection squared by the four crosswalk lines.
In most states I know of, it’s illegal to stop in the intersection regardless of reason. As mentioned, if you don’t have a clear way through, you don’t go in at all.
This is to stop grid lock and prevent accidents. If you’re sitting in the intersection waiting to turn left, what happens if the idiots coming the other way keep coming through, even through the yellow? Then, when your light turns red and the traffic is starting to come from the other direction, you’ll be caught in the box blocking traffic.
Here in Oregon at one time the law did say left turn goes first when the light turns green. I grew up in Washington. When my aunt would come visit us from Oregon she used to scare my mom when she drove because she would always turn in front of oncomingtraffic when the light turned green. Whenever my mother complained my aunt would say " That’s the way we do it in Oregon. It’s the law." This may still be the rule but no one seems to know that. Many intersections around town have signs that say “Left turn yield to oncoming traffic” . These signs are only at intersections that don’t have a seperate left turn lane.