I have one friend who believes it is morally wrong, if making a turn in direction X, to turn into any lane other than the X-most lane. (Left turn into leftmost lane, right turn into rightmost lane.)
I have another friend who believes it is morally wrong, when making a turn, to turn into any lane other than the one you will remain in until it is time to turn again. (Making a left turn onto a street from which you will be making a right turn? You must turn into the rightmost lane.)
I learned Drivers Ed in Texas, and remember specifically being told the latter, and on looking up Texas drivers ed websites, it seems to be confirmed that, in Texas at least, people are taught they may turn into any lane (going the correct direction of course).
Are they taught differntly in other states? I’m in Indiana right now and am not seeing anything in code or informal drivers ed manual that would clearly specify that you must turn into the X-most lane. Indeed in several places where this could have been specified, it was not. On the other hand, the one diagram that is provided in the manual for a turn into a multi-lane roadway shows the turn going into the X-most lane.
I believe my first friend was taught this, I’m just trying to figure out if it’s a real rule here or just something people say.
(I learned long ago you’re not allowed to switch lanes in an intersection. Turns out htat’s just a thing people say. I learned the latter from a sherrif who once pulled over somebody for changing lanes in an intersection only to realize there was no actual violation involved.)
When left turning, 'round these parts, if there are multiple turn lanes the turn lanes actually continue around (via a dashed line) and you’re not supposed to cross it. So if you’re turning left and want to end up in the leftmost lane, you should get yourself into the leftmost turn lane.
When you’re turning right, you are technically supposed to turn into the rightmost turn lane (unless you were at some sort of bizarre mega-intersection with multiple right turn lanes), but it seems to be generally accepted if you turn wide or (more likely) turn into the rightmost lane but don’t straighten out until you’ve drifted left. Similarly if you’re turning left from a single left turn lane into multiple lanes drifting over immediately seems fine - presuming doing so doesn’t slam you into a car that was right-turning at the same time.
It doesn’t specifically say which lane you must turn into. The diagrams only show two-lane roads, which doesn’t help much. it does show a left turn from a two-way onto a one-way, and that goes to the left lane.
I’ve been driving so long I’m not sure I remember exactly how I was taught. I always exit an intersection in the same lane I entered. If I’m turning left (and therefore in the leftmost lane) I turn into the leftmost lane leaving the intersection. Sometimes there are multiple lanes you can turn from; the same rule holds, keep in the lane you started from.
Just quickly glancing up and down from that section shows a similar law for right turns but I can’t find anything about multiple left/right turn lanes, though I suspect it’s similar.
If for no other reason, you run the risk of hitting someone when you make a turn from the left lane into the right lane. If I’m waiting to make a right on red, I usually won’t do it if someone is making a left onto the same road. I don’t trust them to hold their lane.
Oh, and there’s also the case of people not knowing they’re in the leftmost lane of a double left turn lane. You make a wide turn and you run me off the road.
Hold your lane through the turn. In fact, isn’t it illegal to change lanes in an intersection?
But, in the end, even ignoring laws. Traffic gets slowed down when people don’t hold their lane. People don’t like making a right because the oncoming car may go wide. Similarly, people don’t like making a left through a busy intersection when someone is creeping into it to go right on red.
If everyone held their lane, both of them can, and should be able to, go at the same time.
The Illinois Rules of the Road specify that, when making a right turn, you should “stay as close as possible to the curb” and “Turn into the right-hand lane of the roadway the driver is entering.”
When making a left turn, you should “Complete the turn into the lane closest to the intended direction,” which is less clear, but I think means the closest lane that’s traveling in the direction you’ll be going.
This rule makes sense, since it keeps two cars entering a road from opposite sides from colliding. It means that Friend #1 would have the law behind him/her in Illinois. I admit that I don’t always follow this rule, but when I don’t, I realize I’m doing it “wrong” and the burden is on me to be extra sure I’m not going to collide with anybody.
I freely concede that I won’t turn right while people coming from the other direction are turning left, specifically because I don’t trust them to turn into their nearest lane (or stay there for any length of time).
California changed the law on this, when I was learning to drive we were trained to turn into the lane we were turning from, left to left right to right. Once we made out turn then change lanes if we like. Very often I will turn into the center lane and start veering into the right lane when the guy behind me comes flying around on the right. I don’t believe in passing someone just as they are completing a turn but I guess it is legal.
Sure it does. It says:
• Turn from the lane closest to the lane you want to enter. For a right turn, turn from the far right lane. For a left turn, turn from the lane closest to the center lane.
I almost commented on this too, but on a closer read it’s talking about which lane you’re turning from, not which one you’re turning into. So, if you want to turn right, don’t start out in the leftmost lane and then swerve across in front of all the other lanes full of people going straight.
(Presumably large trucks are exempted because they need to turn wide in order to turn at all.)
This is the only rule I was aware of until I read this thread. I assumed it was universal throughout the U.S. I have had a learner’s permit or a license in four different states (NY, WV, NH, and ME). I just checked the driver handbooks for these four states and every one of them supports this rule, either in words or diagrams or both. NH states it most clearly
Correct. A driver turning left from the center lane when there’s a designated left turn lane is considered a dangerous asshole, even in Massachusetts. You are at a serious risk of being hit by the driver already making a turn into the same area you want to be.
Turn in to the nearest lane. This allows a person to be turning left, and another approaching the opposite direction to turn right, on to the same road with two lanes in the same direction.
Unfortunately, stupid assholes look at me like I’M the idiot if I get in their way while they turn in to the wrong lane.
Does this apply in every situation? Texas has a bunch of sprawling car-centric cities, so I’m sure there are intersections with multiple turn lanes. If there are two left turn lanes, and two lanes to turn into, you’ll run into the person in the other lane if you don’t turn into “your” lane.
We have an intersection where an overpass lands at a T intersection where the road to the left is two lanes but to the right it is 4. Hence, there is a single left turn lane and two lanes to the right. It is laid out in a smooth curve, though, so traffic just flows into the correct lane going right. It kind of annoys me, though, that, when the light is red, both lanes will go ifit is clear. It just seems somehow wrong.
I got a turn too wide ticket as a young driver when I had a minor fender bender (left turn from a McDonald’s, drifted into the right lane on the main road, clipped a guy who was there). Have never done it since. Note this is one of those violations where you only seem to get a ticket when it leads to an accident…
Yes, turn left from the left most lane into the left most lane, turn right from the right most lane into the right most lane. The point is that you aren’t changing lanes in the midst of the turn. Whenever it isn’t made clear by lines on the road stick to the basic concept, don’t change lanes in the middle of a turn.