Unless its some really funky intersection I’m on your side.
My IL experience is the same as most, and your 1st friend (tho I don’t apply any concept of morality to turning practices.)
Another factor, if one car is turning L, and another car coming from the other direction is turning R, traffic flow is enhanced if they can anticipate which lane the other is turning into and turn (close to) simultaneously. Me, I never trust the other turner, and will always wait if I do not have right of way. (I believe - but did not check - the first car to the intersection has RoW, or, if they arrive simultaneously, R-turner had RoW over L-turner.)
This is correct. Like you say, otherwise you are making a lane change in the middle of the turn. I would exempt large trucks from this, as they often can’t physically do it.
In TN you turn into the nearest lane. Spelled out nicely here with a good picture.
StG
It’s a bit more complicated when you’re on a bike, and are supposed to stay as far right as reasonable and safe. And there have been times when I’ve made a left turn into a position as far left as possible, and then gotten stuck there by a car following me around the turn and neither passing me nor allowing me to cross in front.
I think the only rule that you really can use on a bike is “turn into whatever lane is safest”, and be extra vigilant to tell which lane that is.
Your friend is correct. You stay in the lane you are traveling in and if you want to change lanes and signal. Changing lanes is a separate action from making a turn.
I used to have a commute with a left turn at a light. Two lanes could turn left and I always positioned myself in the left turn lane on the right because I knew I would then have to turn right at the next intersection. About every other day, some idiot would turn left from the further left lane and just kind of drift in to my lane without a signal or even awareness that there was a car there. My car has a great horn and I enjoyed watching them jump.
Kind of a tangent but kind of not: is it common in other parts of the nation to have more than one turning lane? It sure is in the DC area. I don’t know the official law, but the general rule that I and other people seem to follow is this:
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If you’re turning left from the left-most turning lane, you need to turn into the left-most lane so that you don’t cut off/run into the person next to you, who is also turning left.
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If you’re turning left from the 2nd turning lane (as in, the rightmost left-turning lane – I don’t know how to say this without making it sound confusing), then you ought to turn into the center lane, but if no cars are coming from the other direction, nobody really minds if you turn into a lane further right. You should never turn into the left-most lane from this spot, because you will cut off the person to your left.
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If you turn right from the right-most right turning lane, you should turn into the right-most lane.
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If you turn right from the 2nd turning lane, then the traffic rule is that you cannot make a right turn on red. Since there’s a green light for you, there will be no cars coming from the other direction, so you can turn into any lane *except *for the rightmost lane, since people coming to your right will be using that lane.
I never gave that much through, Wisconsin has this to say
I would assume the person trying to make a right would count as “any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction” in that situation. But I (and I think many others) let the left turner go first just because they’re not likely to be watching you and when they do go they may be trying to get through a small gap in traffic which results in a wide turn and a pretty good speed.
There may be rules on the roads in and around DC, but at least half of the drivers around here either don’t know them or just don’t care. 
Seriously, I routinely see people make turns from lanes that are definitely NOT turn lanes. I routinely see people make turns from a turn lane but in the OTHER direction than that lane is intended for. I routinely see people NOT turn from a turn lane but rather use it to bypass traffic and then merge back mid-intersection, whether there’s space for them or not. And that’s just the dumbfuckery with turning lanes. I frequently think I’ve somehow been transported to India where there is literally zero traffic enforcement and zero consequences even if there were, so everyone just does whatever they want on the road at all times.
Missouri Drivers Manual says when turning left onto a multi lane road you can turn into any unoccupied lane. That’s if there’s only one lane turning left.
https://flic.kr/p/24peihp
if you drive for Uber than you can disregard this entire thread.
I’m surprised at how much this varies from state to state.
Not really an issue on the sidewalk where they drive.
They’re called Marylanders. I kid, I kid.
You should stay in the lane you are already in. If you are turning left from the furthest left lane, you continue in the furthest left lane. If you are turning left from the middle lane (assuming this is legal) you continue on in the middle lane. If you’re turning right, you turn in to the furthest right lane. Once you make your turn you can signal and change lanes as needed.
Actually I only ever see cars with Virginia plates do that shit. Maryland drivers are going too fast to make turns. 
It would not be free of traffic if there is an vehicle approaching from the opposite direction turning right.
The one place I regularly make left turns from the non-leftmost lane, I turn into the right lane of a three lane road. Why? Because I can’t predict where the person in the left lane will go. Will he go into the left lane or into the middle lane?
And yes, this is FUCKING MARYLAND WHERE THE DRIVERS ARE TERRIBLE AND THEY ARE MAKING ME TERRIBLE, TOO!
Ditto, obviously, since I know exactly where you’re talking about.
So, there’s a two-lane (meaning, two lanes going in the same direction) where a left turn is legal from both lanes. And the left turn is onto a road that has three lanes going the same direction. People in the left-most left turn lane sometimes turn into the left-most lane on the new road, and sometimes turn into the middle lane on the new road (and on a rare occasion, they come all the way over to the right, but we’ll ignore those outliers for now). I am always turning left from the right-most lane, and I will always turn into the far right lane on the new road because there’s just no fucking way I’m going to take a chance on getting hit by the guy who was turning next to me.
That’s not as bad as turning from the furthest left lane into the middle lane. By any chance is this intersection on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda? Because that’s the one from my example. You should hear how we talk about Maryland drivers in a DC neighborhood blog I follow.
No, it’s onto Randolph Road in Glenmont.
For laughs (because it’s either laugh or cry), check out MD Driver in DC: x.com