It was illegal in OR, at least at one time - 1990 or so. I got out of the ticket because my crappy car was about to die at the stop light, so I cut through the lot to avoid coming to a complete stop, and the officer took that as good enough reason.
I wish it were enforced more stringently. There’s a bank I go where cars are constantly cutting through to avoid having to stop at the traffic light and there have been several instances in which I was almost hit by one of those speeding cutters, either while I was in my car or on foot.
How are you in the right lane in time to turn into a parking lot, but not in time to turn at the corner? The corner would be past the entrance to the parking lot.
Piling on, but illegal in Ann Arbor, MI as well. Not sure if it’s a city or state law.
Friend of mine had the same…in Minnesota.
Found a citation: Virginia Driver’s Manual (Section 2: Signals, Signs and Pavement Markings) [Warning: .pdf]
What about:
Sorry officer, I turned into this (gas station, strip mall, empty lot) in order to (get gas, shop at the plaza, read a map) and then realized that (the gas station close to home has better prices, the stores are closed, realized where I was at when I saw the crossing street).
?
…
This is also the law in SC. Not surprisingly, since this is in the Uniform Motor Vehicle Act, which is fairly uniform in all the states.
Interesting to hear different locations’ takes on it. I seemed to remember that it was illegal (at least in AZ where I grew up and learned to drive) but couldn’t remember where I heard it, or if I just imagined it.
It’s illegal in Cleveland, Ohio, too, and is charged as “Shortcutting at intersections,” punishable by a $150 fine and two points against your license. I believe it’s a violation of the Ohio Revised Code, too, but I’ve never seen it charged under that, just under the local ordinance.
Yes, it’s illegal in Indiana. There’s a locksmith on a busy corner near my house that went so far as to installed concrete pylons in the parking lot to keep people from using it as a pass-through.
CRS, Title 42 doesn’t seem to have this law of which you speak
Having owned a gas station on the corner of a very busy intersection, I’m damn glad that it’s illegal. If anyone could “cut the corner”, the merchant would have extra liability for the safety of their patrons as well as increased asphalt maintenance.
It turns out what I was thinking of is part of the Boulder Revised Code, Chapter 7-4 Section 9.
Illegal in MI, like ZenBeam said.
Illegal in Florida. “Avoiding traffic control device.”
For those places where it’s confirmed illegal: Can you circumvent the law by stopping the car and opening the door, then closing it and continuing on, which was what I was told was necessary to get around the law in AZ?
No law can be circumvented so easily. If the cop thinks you were trying to fool him, he’ll give you a ticket and let you explain to the judge what you were doing.
I’m pretty sure there’s a state law that bans “circumventing a traffic control device” or words to that effect. And driving through someone’s parking lot to avoid the light is pretty much what they had in mind when they wrote the law.
The Boulder law I referred to says you’ve committed an offense if you cut through a parking lot* without making a stop off of the street in addition to and before the stop required by section 7-4-15 “Stop Before Entering Street Required.” *So I think in Boulder, Colorado you don’t even have to open your door. The cop might say to you, “tell it to the judge,” but it looks pretty easy to adhere to the word of the law, even if you’re violating the spirit. Clearly the intention is that you stop in the parking lot because you have business there, but it doesn’t say that. Not having any experience with traffic court, I have no idea if a ticket would stick, even if you could prove (surveillance video, or some such) that you made the required complete stop, even though your real purpose of entering the parking lot was to cut through.