In driver’s ed in Illinois, I learned to make a left-hand turn the way you are used to. When I moved to Wisconsin in 1973, I had to take a road test to get a license and was marked down for doing that. I was told to make the sharp, ninety-degree left turn that you have just noticed recently. Once I got out of Wisconsin in 1978 I went back to making left turns the way I learned. I see people do it both ways.
Opposing left-hand turns around here are always executed with the cars not crossing paths, with one notable exception that I deal with every day.
I live on a busy road, which is two lanes in each direction and divided by a grass median. Right in front of my house is a “turn through” gap in the median, put there for the cross street opposite my driveway. People coming from both directions often turn left through this gap, whether it’s a left turn onto the side street or a U-turn for people who are trying to get to their driveways from the other side of the road.
Because turning through this median involves a stop in the middle to check/wait for oncoming traffic, it is common (and expected) practice to drive to the far side of the gap and wait to turn, so that if someone comes from the opposite side doing the same thing, you don’t block each other views. Everyone seems to get this, as it’s rarely a problem.
The reason why I think it’s so self-evident for this situation, but not done at normal intersections is that here’s a built-in wait in the middle of the turn that creates that need to see the other side. Surprisingly, most drivers seem are forward-thinking enough to come to this conclusion naturally…though maybe not so surprising since it’s just as likely explained by selfishness.
This situation is for turns at uncontrolled intersections, where it can be argued that it makes sense. Most controlled intersections in the UK are roundabouts, IIRC. In the US where most controlled intersections are 4-way stops and traffic lights, you would never go past the opposing turning car to complete your turn because it disrupts the flow of traffic if there is more than one car doing it. In driver’s ed we were taught not do “do si do” (for non-Americans, that is a square dancing move).
The danger of this maneuver is that if I cut in front of the guy coming at me as we both make turns is that the guy behind him, who decides to kind of weave around the outside and continues forward in his lane of traffic will hit my passenger side door as he comes around. IOW, as said above, if you don’t pass before you turn, you can’t see if there is oncoming traffic behind the turning person that is going to try to force its right-of-way.
But, sometimes you can see that it’s safe, and some intersections are designed in such a way that if you don’t turn without passing each other then no traffic will move.
I guess, thinking about it, I do it differently depending on the intersection and what traffic is doing.
I think it’s happened to me once or twice.
Note the “happened to me” … it only takes one of the drivers to force the other into doing it. It’s not an agreed upon move.
Imagine a case where the other driver is signalling a left turn, but in fact continues to drive straight.
Although, in reality, I’d imagine that which type of turn you make would depend a lot more on the size of the intersection than on anything else. Most of the ones around here aren’t large enough to allow for the “pass then turn” style described.
I can see having to do this if there is a very wide median. Like more than 20 feet. Otherwise, it’s a horrible and unpredictable thing to do.
In over 30 years of driving I have never seen this maneuver, unless, as noted, a wide median comes into play.
Never seen this and it sounds like a terrible idea with no benefit. What do you do if there is a car behind the one you intend to pass? What if there is a line of them?
I’m in the 20+ years driving camp and have never seen this done that I recall.
At a four way stop intersection only one car should be turning at a time and at a controlled intersection it is presumably controlled because the likelihood is high that there’d be enough traffic that you’d run into the problem of enough cars that passing then turning would require some weird 1 and 1 maneuvers. But maybe I’m just not imagining it right.
I’ve noticed the change in style here, too.
I suspect that part of it is the change to giant SUVs. With two normal cars, it’s much easier to see behind the oncoming car to check for traffic. With a monster truck facing you, not so much. Not to mention less room on the inside curve when you have two giant beasts.
I’d also guess that it’s a change in what they’re teaching in driver’s ed.
I know that when I learned to drive, the rule for making a left turn on a regular green light (i.e., no signal so yield to oncoming traffic) was to pull out into the intersection and wait until traffic cleared to make your turn. If the light turns yellow before you get a chance, then you clear the intersection on yellow as soon as oncoming traffic stops for the upcoming red light.
The GirlChild was taught (about 5 years ago) to wait behind the crosswalk at the green light and never to turn on yellow. This has led me to sitting behind idjits through several light cycles because they didn’t get a enough clear space on green to both make it all the way out into the intersection plus make the turn, and therefore could never turn.
Quoth Horatius:
An intersection that’s not large enough for “pass then turn” is also not large enough for “turn then pass”, since the latter requires slightly more space.