There is an intersection here in Charlottesville, VA (two of them, in fact) that has three street lights for only two lanes of traffic. The left lane is a “turn left only” lane while the right lane is a “straight or right” lane. The far left light, which appears to be only for the left lane, has a red light, yellow light, and green arrow. The two other lights are regular street lights–red, yellow, and green with no arrows. Why is this? What is the purpose?
I realize I’m generalizing here, but as in most cases, I don’t care.
-Dave Barry
The leftmost light is, as you guessed, for the turning lane. The arrow tells drivers to go left and do no go straight hitting the cars in the opposite left-turn lane.
The other two lights are probably used to provide better visibility in heavy traffic. Behind busses and semis (or the latests full-size vans) it is hard to see a single traffic light. With a pair of them, it is more likely that one or the other will be visible to the left or right of tall vehicles ahead of you.
(Failing that, the city got a good deal on funds from the federal government and spent them on extra traffic lights rather than returning the money.)
More likely, the lights were installed when there were two lanes that allowed through traffic, and subsequently there was a re-striping. A picture of the intersection would be helpful.
It’s primarily a visibility thing. Around here most intersections have more lights than lanes, even if there isn’t a specific left or right turn signal. The extra light is redundancy in case your blocked or if the sun is behind one of the lights.
“East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.” – Marx
The visibility issue, a light may be blocked by another vehicle
Preplanning for multiple traffic lanes
This one is probably the most common. Traffic lights are 99.9% of the time installed in pairs for each direction. If a bulb burns out on one of the colors on one signal, you have no reason to believe it may be green (or red, or yellow) since there’s another light to look at. The bulbs damn near never burn out of the same colors on both lights at the same time. Kind of a CYA tactic, if you will.
There is NO number 4
Jeremy…
Nobody ever calls me after they’ve done something smart.
I feel as though I have a god given right to turn left when there is no on-coming traffic and I have a green light. Is this correct?
Depending on the region of the country I am driving in, there are few or many intersections where it is only ‘legal’ to turn left is when there is a green arrow, and in fact there may be a red arrow or red ‘turn light’ to tell me that it is illegal to turn left now (while cars next to me drive forward).
I learned to drive in Illinois, and as I remember it the left turn light is almost non-existent there. I’ve since lived in Missouri and Kansas, where it is more prevalent (and I’ve travelled elsewhere where it is much more prevalent, though I do remember that in New Orleans it is basically illegal to turn left ever). What is the deal with this? As near as I can tell, the left turn light is a convenience that I appreciate, but why should I have to respect a red arrow when it is clear there is no on-coming traffic?
Also, when I learned to drive (again, in Illinois) I was taught that it was entirely proper that when facing an agressive left turn situation (with constant on-coming traffic) that I sort of drive to the middle of the intersection, wait for the light to turn red, then make my turn. In agressive situations without a left-turn light, this is the only available option. Yet I have seen drivers not take it! What is their deal? Is this reasonable?
Beats me what their deal is, although I rarely see a left turn lane with any decent traffic flow that doesn’t have its own light here in Chicago suburbia.
My understanding, through experience more than any grasp of traffic law, is that once the arrow is done you can still turn left provided that there’s no on coming traffic provided that there’s not a LEFT TURN ON ARROW ONLY sign or something similar. The more impatient among us try to secure our chances for a turn by getting into the intersection and waiting for the light to turn yellow (it’s a bit rude to wait for it to turn red and hold up the other lanes as you turn against the light).
As a public service announcement, let me say that when you’re in the intersection, keep your wheels straight. That way, if hit from behind you’re not pushed into on coming traffic.
“I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
First of all, some traffic rules do vary from state to state. To answer the question of when you can legally turn left, go to your local office of your state’s motor vehicle department and look the answer up in the booklet almost all states provide to help you learn such laws.
If you see a red left arrow, it is pretty clear that you cannot turn left while it is showing. I would venture to say, based on experience, that most states allow a left turn from a left turn only lane when a green light is showing and no red arrow is shown, oncoming traffic allowing. In California, they usually put up a sign to advise you of this in the few places that don’t just automatically flip on the red arrow after the yellow arrow. I didn’t even know it was a possibility there until I was about 27 and ran into such a sign in Salinas!
Its the only way to turn left in an agressive situation without the left turn light. People will drive through a yellow light - the only time I will have a protected left turn is when the light turns red. This is entirely legal - but its not very efficient which is why they came up with left turn lights in the first place - so that more than one person could turn left on a given cycle. It won’t hold up any traffic, because I will start moving a couple seconds before the other lanes get a green light, and be out of their way almost immediately.
As long as there is not a “no left turn” sign or a red light for the left turn signal, it is typically okay to turn left if there is no oncoming traffic and you have a green light. The cases that this is not true will probably be labeled by a sign. Of course this is all guesswork on my part, and regional traffic laws may differ. Some places a right on red is illegal.
The hover in the intersection method is used by blocking cross traffic, and thus ensuring that you must move. It is usually legal. Sometimes you do have to wait until the signal is fully red, though, because people most definitely will run that yellow light. I have a summary I call the “Two Idiot” rule. No matter how tight you run a yellow light (and as long as it’s actually yellow when you hit the light), there are usually two idiots that will follow you through that intersection. Bank on it. Also warns you if you are approaching a light that turns yellow, you should expect to have two idiots eating your bumper if you choose to stop.
Sorry for the tangent. I get carried away.
But related to the original post, I have seen this: a left turn signal that has a red light simultaneous with the green arrow. What’s that supposed to mean, stop then turn left? Only in Houston.
[Another useless tangent] Houston has the screwiest light patterns I’ve ever seen. There is no consistent rule or pattern as to when to expect the left turn signal to be green. Some intersections do it before regular traffic, some do it after. Some turn simultaneous with straight traffic flow, some separate from straight traffic flow. Some start on one side with simultaneous left turn, then the turn signal cuts out and the other side starts, then the first straight traffic stops and the other left turn starts. Some are on timers and others on triggers, so I have seen the left turn green, shift to red, then go back to green before that side stops and allows cross traffic, and that’s on a busy intersection with traffic waiting on the cross street.[/tangent]
