This is called a Philly left. I recall learning about it here at the SDMB, actually. I’ve never lived or driven in Philadelphia, so I don’t know how common it is. But from what I recall of that thread, it’s a common courtesy there to let one or two cars turn left immediately when the light turns green (when there isn’t a dedicated left-turn arrow). Because otherwise, only one car might squeak through during an entire light cycle. The Philly left is definitely not kosher anywhere I’ve driven, though.
They do the Philly left here in Jersey too, along with not signalling until they start turning. That’s a fun combination.
I’ve taken to assuming that every driver near the centerline is making a left turn, and adjusting my driving accordingly. That way, when they do go straight, I say “wow, he actually used his blinker correctly, bravo!” Makes for a more enjoyable drive.
Look, this is the country where lawnmowers now require a warning label to not put your hands and feet under it while it is running, all because some guy decided to pick his up and try to use it as a hedge trimmer, and was awarded a large sum for loss of fingers, because it didn’t have a warning to not do that.
Oy vey! It has a name?
I thought it was just the Los Angelinos around here driving like – well, like they’re in L.A. or something. It’s like everyone on the road (whether or not they’re licensed to drive) seems to think “I’m a self-important left-coast resident. When the law says ‘Yield to the right of way’ nobody is more right than me so I get to have my way.” and if there’s a nanosecond break in the flow of traffic they’ll slam the gas pedal to the floor and try to slide their SUV through the gap, heedless of the gas, tire tread, or vehicular integrity wasted by the behavior.
The signs and signals are an attempt to moderate the flow of traffic, but basically give the ticket-writers another way to nail us: failure-to-obey-signs.
Soon enough someone will go zooming through an intersection controlled by the new yellow light and say, “I saw the light go off so I just went through. Really, officer, I didn’t know that was just half the blinking phase!”
–G!
Baby you can drive my car
Yes I’m gonna be a star
–McCartney & Lennon
Drive My Car
Minnesota goes as far as to require flashing yellow arrows in all new permissive installations. They can be permissive only, and there they have the same meaning that left turning traffic must yield.
Traffic circles- Richfield installed a two-lane one and accidents went up because people didn’t know how to drive one. The police interviewed on driver who said he was afraid of it so he always sped up when going through it to get through it as fast as poosible
Did injuries also go up? Crashes in roundabouts are usually less dangerous, IIRC.
But people not knowing how to drive on one is a problem. One-lane roundabouts aren’t difficult, but the ones with two lanes have special rules that no other roads have, and the ones I’ve seen have no explanation of this. (You have to yield to both lanes, even if you’re turning into the outside lane. It makes sense if you think about it, but it’s still not the way we’re used to treating yielding.)
Left turn arrows that turn green ahead of the go-straight green piss me off. There can be 20 cars going straight, 10 each way, but the one and only car turning left goes first. That makes no sense.
My personal favorite is
STOP FOR PEDESTRIANS IN CROSSWALK
which seems to indicate
OUTSIDE CROSSWALK THEY’RE FAIR GAME
My son who lives in Boston tells me that true Bostonians consider traffic lights as suggestions.
I certainly grew up with the same understanding as the OP. One thing though is that at a stop sign, I believe that I have the ROW over the guy across from me if I got to the intersection before he did. Everyone seems to accept that understanding.
On roads where there is work going on, I see signs that say BE PREPARED TO STOP.
My understanding of the rules of the road is that you should always be prepared to stop.
Traffic signal timing is about what moves traffic efficiently, not necessarily having the movement with the most cars go first. For uncoordinated signals the reason lead lefts are preferred in most situations is that 1)Drivers react to it faster than lag lefts, 2)If a left turn lane isn’t long enough and there is a lot of traffic the cars waiting for the left turn can block the through movement, and 3) The potential for the “yellow trap” if the lefts are protected/permissive and the left turns aren’t the same length.
For coordinated signals it often works well to have one direction be leads and one direction be lags.
Here in NJ we NEED that sign! Too many dolts here try to left turn in front of you the second the light turns green so they don’t have to wait.
Where can you turn left onto deerfoot?
Another advantage of the flashing yellow arrow is it eliminates the “yellow trap” so lead/lag lefts can be safely used if it’s advantagous for traffic flow- The yellow arrow can keep flashing even when the through movement has a red ball.
Standard practice though I never knew there was a name for it. Hell, I did it on my bike this morning. If I’m the first car going straight, I’ll hesitate for a sec when the light turns green but if you’re not paying attention that’s your fault.
My experience is the NE, in general is faster paced/ more aggressive than other parts of the country. I was in Cincinnati & came to a mid-block crosswalk & a car stopped! That would never happen in Phila, NYC, or Boston. Good thing I was with a local who told me to cross then otherwise I would have waited for cars to clear before attempting to cross.
64th Avenue NE on-ramp - drivers are turning left to get onto Deerfoot, and apparently they notice neither the crosswalk and light there nor the pedestrians. After posting my post yesterday, I walked across that crosswalk again, and yet another car turned left right across me - I was already in the crosswalk when she drove right in front of me. If there are a line of cars waiting to make that left turn, I can almost guarantee that one of them will interfere with my crossing the street (legally) there.
Sitting in traffic, waiting for the oncoming to break, so I could turn, yellow light, first guy stops, I start turning, guy behind him jumps INTO THE BIKE LANE and hits me. I got the ticket. Cop said it’s always gonna be your fault if you’re turning left.
Oh, I get it now - I was thinking they had put in an actual intersection with lights in the far south or something. Yah, I would say trying to cross there would be taking your life in your hands.
I grew up in Oregon, got my license at 21, moved to California at 24 and have lived there since.
I was not aware that it was EVER legal to turn left without a green light for your lane. I’ve probably annoyed drivers behind me a few times by actually waiting for the signal instead of scooting in at a break in traffic :).
I’ve also found myself wondering about a couple of other traffic questions. In California, right-on-red is legal unless posted otherwise (wasn’t the case in Oregon when I was driving there, took me a little while to adjust). In a situation with two or more right-turn lanes, can all those lanes take advantage of that turn or just the rightmost? Also, when making a left turn onto a one-way street, is it legal to do a left-on-red? I see both the maneuvers I’m questioning on a regular basis, but don’t do it myself because I’m not sure of the legality and can’t afford traffic tickets.
In my experience, yes IF it’s from a one-way onto a one-way. You certainly can’t do it if you’re turning from a two-way onto a one-way.