# What is so hard about making a Right-Turn?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [August 15, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939 "2004-08-15T13:44:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/1 "2004-08-15T13:44:41Z")
As the Years go by,apparently idiot people forget how to make a right-turn.
By far,it is the simpliest turn of them all,however,brain-dead morons don’t have a
clue as to getting their damn vehicle out of the way.They continue to hold-up traffic while they turn from the middle of the lane.
Human Garbage…in case you forgot…when making a right-hand turn,the first
thing you do is put on your directional (blinker) you know that lever on the left-hand side of your stering wheel that you put rubber bands on that you believe
is used for begging people to let you back in the lane after youve passed 30 cars
on the right shoulder because youre to damn self-righteous to get in line and wait
like the rest of us. The second thing you do is parrallel the curb before your turn
so the ass-end of your car is not obstructing traffic.
is this so hard?
is this not tested at the DMV anymore when one goes to get a License?
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/2 "2004-08-15T16:36:23Z")
But that screws up my racing lines! Shoulder, apex, shoulder.
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### Author:  [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/3 "2004-08-15T17:08:41Z")
I take ultra-tight right turns using the handbrake. The other passengers in my car do not appreciate my skills though 😕
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### Author:  [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/4 "2004-08-15T17:15:20Z")
> [@Mr. Roboto](#):
>
> By far,it is the simpliest turn of them all,
So … you drive on the right in Atlantis?
Up here on the surface, some folks live in left-side-drive countries, and right turns are harder than left turns.
But we have bad drivers up here, too, in all countries.
Hey, maybe someone should start a Pit thread about bad drivers … I’ll bet that would be kewl!
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### Author:  [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/5 "2004-08-15T18:02:37Z")
That’s what I keep asking myself in many of the Bush-bashing threads.
Don’t worry. There are smart people here and I am sure that they will figure it out eventually. 🆒
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### Author:  [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/6 "2004-08-17T05:11:53Z")
Similarly, if you’re not turning right, but the right lane is wide enough for two cars, and I am turning right, and I’m allowed to turn right on a red light (as I am in this state, and in many others), get as close as you reasonably can to the white line on your left, so that I don’t have to either (a) wait for the light to change, (b) barely scrape past you, destroying both our paint jobs, or © barely get by, hoping that I’m not destroying our paint jobs.
Please replace all instances of the word “right” with “left” and vice versa for any country where right turns are the wide ones.
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### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/7 "2004-08-17T06:28:09Z")
Maybe it’s because it’s 1am, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is that the bad right lane turners from the OP are doing “wrong”.
What do you mean “turn from the middle of the lane?” and “parallel the curb”? Are the lanes extra super wide where you’re from? First off, no matter where one’s vehicle is in the lane, middle or far right or far left, they should be parallel to the curb (at least while approaching the turn, as they turn of course they’ll be perpendicular), whether they’re turning right or just driving along. Unless you mean something completely different by “parallel the curb”.
Anyway, where I’m from lanes are about a car width and a small bit extra on each side. Doesn’t matter if you get all the way to the right, you are still going to hold up traffic that is in the right lane behind you. And as you finish the turn, the back end of the car, by the law of physics (or some other law of objects occcupying a space) is going to be the last thing to leave that lane.
While you don’t have to slow down to the snails pace a lot of people seem to adopt when making right hand turns, you DO have to slow down some, so it’s inevitable that you’ll be holdling up those in your lane while you do so. Of course as you mentioned, hopefully you employed the turn signal for the requisite 10 - 13 blinks beforehand so that those not also turning can get into the left lane and around you.
Now, that’s NOT to say that your complaint isn’t valid. I just am not quite understanding what it is that they’re doing wrong with the not “paralleling the curb” thingie. My complaints of drivers making righthand turns (say from the road into store parking lots for instance) is that they do it sOOOoooo slooooooooowly, as if their car is going to self destruct if they go over .005 mph during the turn or something.
Or those that freak out if another car is coming out of the parking lot on the other side…A @#$@# Mac TRUCK could get in there, just GO for crying out loud!!!
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/8 "2004-08-17T13:16:23Z")
My wild-ass guess is that the OP is complaining about the folks who can’t seem to make a right turn while remaining fully in their lane, but feel compelled to turn the wheel left first and go a ways into the intersection before turning, as if needing to give that dangerous right curb a wide berth. In the process, they drift out of their own lane (or at least scare the folks next to them into thinking they may) and also maximize the amount of time spent turning.
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### Author:  [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/9 "2004-08-17T17:56:15Z")
I was a little confused by the OP too, but I think what he’s saying boils down to drivers should keep to the right and make a nice, tight turn.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/10 "2004-08-17T18:35:31Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#):
>
> My wild-ass guess is that the OP is complaining about the folks who can’t seem to make a right turn while remaining fully in their lane, but feel compelled to turn the wheel left first and go a ways into the intersection before turning, as if needing to give that dangerous right curb a wide berth. In the process, they drift out of their own lane (or at least scare the folks next to them into thinking they may) and also maximize the amount of time spent turning.
Either that or drivers who don’t use the parking lane when turning. Possibly both.
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/11 "2004-08-17T18:59:16Z")
Did you hit _Return_ at strange places to make the OP look like a hand shooting the finger?
Cuz it does.
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/12 "2004-08-17T19:18:29Z")
Yes, Canvas - in the U.S., lanes are usually wide enough that a car making a right turn can fit abreast of another car that’s going straight in the same lane. Maybe not in Alaska, but there’s only about 5 people living in that whole state, right? 😉
Anyway, I know exactly what the OP is talking about, but maybe that’s because I was a driving instructor a long time ago, and the very first part of Lesson 3: Right Turns is - _ease the car over as close as possible to the right curb_. This does 2 things: (1) In conjunction with the turn signal, indicates your intention to make a right turn, and (2) Allows traffic to go around you on the left.
And I’m noticing these days that nobody does that anymore. Maybe it’s because they’re watching too many F-1 races on TV, and trying to apex the corner like the race-drivers do, or maybe it’s that they’re just jackasses and don’t care about other people, or maybe they’re just lazy (it does take an extremely slight amount of extra effort when that right turn is just a little sharper) - I don’t know. But I’ll tell you - it’s dangerous as hell, because _one_ of these times, you’re gonna forget to signal, or another driver isn’t going to see your signal, and he’s gonna pull right in there _between_ you and the curb, and you’re both going to try to turn right at the same time, and collide.
BTW, In California, it’s THE LAW:
> [@](#):
>
> 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 which 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) When a right-hand turn is made from a one-way highway at an intersection, a driver shall approach the turn as provided in subdivision (a) 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.
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### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/13 "2004-08-17T22:07:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Jeff Olson: Either that or drivers who don’t use the parking lane when turning. Possibly both.
Ummm, what’s a parking lane? Are you talking about the shoulder on a highway?
> [@](#):
>
> Blowero: Yes, Canvas - in the U.S., lanes are usually wide enough that a car making a right turn can fit abreast of another car that’s going straight in the same lane. Maybe not in Alaska, but there’s only about 5 people living in that whole state, right?
Hee hee, well a smidge more than 5, but maybe part of my confusion with the OP is that is he talking about city streets??? (in which I’ve seen lots of them in cities other than Alaskan ones, here in Texas for instance, also Seattle, Vegas, Oregan, CA and others). Or is he talking about turning right off of a highway or major roadway?
On a lot of city streets, not just in Alaska, there isn’t enough room for two cars to fit abreast in a lane, even if the car is as far over as possible, although some streets do have wide enough shoulders for this.
In Anchorage, a lot of streets have right turn lanes that start a few car lengths before the light. But if you’re just talking about a city street, and people turning into a mall or something, where there is no light or intersection, there’s no room for the person turning right to allow another car in his lane abreast even if his passenger tires are kissing the curb.
I’ve seen this same configuration of streets in a lot of little Texas towns as well. Not only is there no room for cars to fit two abreast in the lane, sometimes there’s barely room for traffic going both ways thanks to the weird slant parking up against the businesses.
Again, I’m not disagreeing with the OP at all, I get impatient with these slow laureses myself, I’m just trying to wrap my little blonde brain around the exact circumstances he’s describing.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/14 "2004-08-17T23:16:30Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#):
>
> Ummm, what’s a parking lane? Are you talking about the shoulder on a highway?
Nope, the parking on city streets. You can’t park all the way up to the intersection, so you get this unused space around intersections where theoretically you can move your car over right before you turn.
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### Author:  [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/15 "2004-08-18T05:08:31Z")
I have a corollary beef: when you’re on a one-lane road and someone needs to turn right, why do they do it sooooooooooo slowly, making you stop at an intersection without a stop sign or traffic light, waiting for their slow asses? I mean, even when no other cars are coming and there’s no obstruction, they come to nearly full stop, turn, then speed up. My driver’s ed teacher, lo these 14 years ago, told me to accelerate though the turn. What is wrong with these people?
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### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/16 "2004-08-18T05:25:34Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#):
>
> Nope, the parking on city streets. You can’t park all the way up to the intersection, so you get this unused space around intersections where theoretically you can move your car over right before you turn.
Parking? On a city street?? Surely you jest 😃
I know we have a few, but the true “parking lanes” aren’t really useful for right or left turns, generally, at least during the business day, they’re packed full.
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### Author:  [@V.bis\_and\_Baudhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/V.bis_and_Baudhead)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/17 "2004-08-18T06:00:05Z")
> [@Mr. Roboto](#):
>
> By far,it is the simpliest turn of them all,however,brain-dead morons don’t have a
> clue as to getting their damn vehicle out of the way.They continue to hold-up traffic while they turn from the middle of the lane.
Preach it!
I overheard a conversation about this at work once, and during the course of the conversation, a co-worker admitted that the reason they turned from the middle of the lane was because they were afraid of accidentally overrunning the curb. (And I live in a suburb of L.A., and there’s almost always PLENTY of room.) Shit, if you can’t get within 2 feet of a curb without risk of running it over, stay the hell off the road! Or, I guess, the sidewalk.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/18 "2004-08-18T15:58:12Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#):
>
> Nope, the parking on city streets. You can’t park all the way up to the intersection, so you get this unused space around intersections where theoretically you can move your car over right before you turn.
I don’t know what the 'burbs of Chicago are like, but I do know that, in at least half of Albuquerque, there is basically no parking on any major street. If there is any room on the side, that is for a marked bike lane. So you take your turns from the lane you’re in without moving over and like it, damn it.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/19 "2004-08-18T16:25:03Z")
> [@asterion](#):
>
> I don’t know what the 'burbs of Chicago are like, but I do know that, in at least half of Albuquerque, there is basically no parking on any major street. If there is any room on the side, that is for a marked bike lane. So you take your turns from the lane you’re in without moving over and like it, damn it.
Bike lanes and Chicago streets don’t mix, apparently. As for Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, the parking situation varies wildly. I was just trying to divine what the OP was attempting to get at. Hell, I’d be thrilled if the people who didn’t accelerate through turns (when possible) and those who feel compelled to steer left before making a right turn (must give that curb at least 3’ of berth) would just knock it off.
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-hard-about-making-a-right-turn/259939/20 "2004-08-18T17:43:25Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#):
>
> On a lot of city streets, not just in Alaska, there isn’t enough room for two cars to fit abreast in a lane, even if the car is as far over as possible, although some streets do have wide enough shoulders for this.
Not to belabor the point, but if this were true, then there would be no such thing as street parking. When a person parks his car at the curb, it doesn’t bring all traffic to a standstill until he gets back, does it? And please don’t try to tell me there is no (or hardly any) curb parking anywhere in the U.S.A. So obviously, since cars park ON the street, and other cars PASS those parked cars, there is room for 2 cars to fit side-by-side.
Maybe you’re talking about older, hilly neighborhoods that might have extremely narrow streets, but that’s the exception rather than the rule. But don’t fret - if the street is narrow, you’re only required to move _as far as possible_ to the right before making your turn.
And Asterion, I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to move _into_ the bike lane when making a right turn, rather than cutting wide across it.