# What driving law did I unwittingly break **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601 "2013-05-29T02:30:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/1 "2013-05-29T02:30:56Z")
Please help me figure out what driving law I broke. This happened in Florida. It started while leaving a one lane side street for a 4 lane divided main road. I was behind a car that tuned right by pulling out onto the merge part (that about 8 car lengths that lets one speed up to merge - it tapers down at about length 7). The light changed as that car was making the turn so I turned right by pulling into the roadway, without using the merge area. Since I could see that the other car would want to move into the roadway, off the merge area, I pulled into the far lane directly from the side street. As I passed the other car, the driver stuck her hand out the window, flipped me the bird and yelled “F\*ck you, lawbreaker”. It was the lawbreaker that confused me. If she had used one of the more common nouns, I would have written this off as her having a bad day. However, I do not see what law (or unwritten rule) I broke. Should I have used the merge area even though the light was green? Should I have pulled into the near lane and kept my speed down so the other car could get out in front of me? I honestly thought I was being considerate in pulling into the far lane. So help me please, ye knowledgeable folk of the Dope, what did I do wrong and what should I have done? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/2 "2013-05-29T02:35:08Z")
I think it’s illegal to right turn into the left from your position, rather than turn into the right lane. ETA: [Here](http://www.dmvflorida.org/turning.shtml) ya go: > [@](#): > > Finish your turn in the correct lane. A right turn should be made from the right lane into the right lane. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/3 "2013-05-29T03:18:03Z")
California is one state where your move would be okay. A vehicle turning on green in CA has right of way into all lanes. But that’s not true in most states. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/4 "2013-05-29T03:37:45Z")
> [@Pasta](#): > > California is one state where your move would be okay. A vehicle turning on green in CA has right of way into all lanes. But that’s not true in most states. [California V C Section 22100 Turning Upon a Highway](http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22100.htm) Turning Upon a Highway 1. Except as provided in Section 22100.5 or 22101, the driver of any vehicle intending to turn upon a highway shall do so as follows: (a) Right Turns. Both the approach for a right-hand turn and a right-hand turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except: (1) Upon a highway having three marked lanes for traffic moving in one direction that terminates at an intersecting highway accommodating traffic in both directions, the driver of a vehicle in the middle lane may turn right into any lane lawfully available to traffic moving in that direction upon the roadway being entered. (2) If a right-hand turn is made from a one-way highway at an intersection, a driver shall approach the turn as provided in this subdivision and shall complete the turn in any lane lawfully available to traffic moving in that direction upon the roadway being entered. (3) Upon a highway having an additional lane or lanes marked for a right turn by appropriate signs or markings, the driver of a vehicle may turn right from any lane designated and marked for that turning movement. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/5 "2013-05-29T03:49:45Z")
> [@Reepicheep](#): > > Please help me figure out what driving law I broke. [Here is the specific law.](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0300-0399/0316/Sections/0316.151.html) 316.151 Required position and method of turning at intersections.— (1) The driver of a vehicle intending to turn at an intersection shall do so as follows: (a) Right turn.—Both the approach for a right turn and a right turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/6 "2013-05-29T03:57:12Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > [California V C Section 22100 Turning Upon a Highway](http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22100.htm) Thanks. I thought the right turn example was included in the “finish in any lane” category if it was at a controlled intersection, but indeed VC 22100 doesn’t say so, and a quick skim elsewhere didn’t turn anything up. Some of the other scenarios are still, as far as I know, fairly unusual for other states. ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/7 "2013-05-29T05:53:22Z")
Thanks all, I will now know to pull into the merge area first ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/8 "2013-05-29T12:28:35Z")
Thank heavens you avoided what I consider to be one of the worst driving transgressions - when 2 cars are merging (or turning as you describe) and as the first car is getting up to speed in the merge lane, the 2d car gets impatient, merges early, and speeds up in a manner that interfere’s w/ the 1st car’s merge. Off topic - just a peeve of mine. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/9 "2013-05-29T12:36:15Z")
Turn too wide-got ticketed for that in a fender-bender once when I was a kid. Constantly violated around here all the time too-me I will put my blinker on and cross the lanes carefully and deliberately rather than all at once. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/10 "2013-05-29T13:16:17Z")
In one of the several books that have been published about How To Beat Your Traffic Ticket (which also cover how to avoid getting one), the author cites the “Rude Rule”, which states that, if you have done something to cause another driver to flip you off, you have probably violated some traffic law. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-driving-law-did-i-unwittingly-break/659601/11 "2013-05-29T13:38:41Z")
> [@Reepicheep](#): > > As I passed the other car, the driver stuck her hand out the window, flipped me the bird and yelled “F\*ck you, lawbreaker”. Goes to show that junior modding is no more attractive in the real world than it is on the board.