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Correct way to make a left turn?

M

matt1216

New member
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Location
san francisco ca
Moto(s)
sv650
Name
matt
What is the correct way to make a left turn on city streets when the driver coming the other way also wants to make a left?

I always try to go past the left turner and then make the turn behind them. To me it seems safer, no chance of the other driver hitting you. Also it gives you both a better view of the intersection so you can be sure it's all clear.

I post this because I had just a guy in a mini cooper try to make the turn in front of me. I hesitated to turn in front and tried to go behind but he cut in front of me and I could see he in the car yelling at me.

No big deal we were both going really slow, seeing how the light just turned green. But it left me wondering who was in the right.

Ride safe yall:ride
 
ASSUME this is an intersection. If so you are wrong and lucky the guy in the mini did not hit you if you had your turn indicator on, slowing and acting like you were going to turn.
 
bikeama said:
ASSUME this is an intersection. If so you are wrong and lucky the guy in the mini did not hit you if you had your turn indicator on, slowing and acting like you were going to turn.
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Yeah it was an intersection. It just seems more dangerous to turn in front of the car. I don't like trusting the driver, just because he has the blinker on doesn't mean he's going to turn.
 
That doesn't sound like a safe maneuver. Assuming an intersection like bikeama, you approach the intersection on green (as do they), and wait for an opportunity to clear the intersection. If no opportunity presents itself, you clear the intersection when the light has turned red and oncoming traffic has come to a stop. Going behind someone to complete a left turn sounds like trouble.

I'm not sure if what I'm describing is legal, but it's what I'd do in this instance, and I think many would agree that going behind the driver isn't safe.

matt1216 said:
Yeah it was an intersection. It just seems more dangerous to turn in front of the car. I don't like trusting the driver, just because he has the blinker on doesn't mean he's going to turn.
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They should have a blinker on and should be slowing to a stop. Give them enough room to complete the turn and you shouldn't be endangered here, if I'm understanding correctly.
 
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OP, no.
 
I would think it'd be safer to not enter the intersection until the other car had committed their turn, if that's what you are worried about.

I wouldn't go behind a car though, I'd rather commit to going in front of them and take the ability to hit me out of their hands, instead of trying to go by them and have them hit me.
 
:laughing I don't like the responses I'm getting, you mean that a-hole in the mini was right and I'm the a-hole?

So lets say there were cars behind me going straight through the intersection, but no cars behind the mini? If me and the other left turner turn at the same time in front of each other he could hit the car going straight. In that situation I'd just turn behind the mini and let him focus on the left turn without me in the way.
 
The #1 rule of operating a motor vehicle is: be predictable.

Turning left behind the other vehicle is not typical, and thus not expected, and thus not predictable.

Be predictable.
 
What you are doing is HIGHLY irregular. And probably freaks a lot people out. This may sound snarky, but I actually do want to know, how & where did you learn to drive?

I don't know if it's codified in a Vehicle Code, but no one I know has ever been taught that way. I'm 40 (which is pretty young compared to a lot of folks on BARF, lol), so I have ZERO idea how people even learn how to drive these days (IIRC, driver's ed has been taken out of pretty much all school, right?).

I'm curious if this is just an idea you came up with, or if someone taught this to you. And if so, who.

The only time you'd ever make a left turn behind someone is if it was a divided roadway where you and the other driver both crossed one way traffic coming from your left into a sort of neutral zone between the roads going in either direction.

Here's an example, Sacramento St in Berkeley:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/S...2!3m1!1s0x80857e91a4c560b5:0x3483215aad00798a
 
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matt1216 said:
:laughing I don't like the responses I'm getting, you mean that a-hole in the mini was right and I'm the a-hole?

So lets say there were cars behind me going straight through the intersection, but no cars behind the mini? If me and the other left turner turn at the same time in front of each other he could hit the car going straight. In that situation I'd just turn behind the mini and let him focus on the left turn without me in the way.
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I'm not sure anyone particularly enjoys being "wrong" :)

The Mini shouldn't proceed through an intersection until it is safe to do so. It should be able to see past you to know whether or not they can execute the turn safely.
 
matt1216 said:
:laughing I don't like the responses I'm getting, you mean that a-hole in the mini was right and I'm the a-hole?

So lets say there were cars behind me going straight through the intersection, but no cars behind the mini? If me and the other left turner turn at the same time in front of each other he could hit the car going straight. In that situation I'd just turn behind the mini and let him focus on the left turn without me in the way.
Click to expand...

As to your first question, for a typical intersection, the answer is yes, you were wrong. Do NOT try to go "behind" a left turning car unless you are in those rare situations where the intersection is so long and wide that you are basically "forced" to. And I mean an intersection that is double or triple the size of a typical San Francisco street intersection.

To your second question/statement, If you have done things properly, by slowing down ahead of time and having your turn signal on and flashing for at least 100 ft before the intersection, you have indicated to those behind you that you intend to turn left. It is YOUR responsibility to look BEYOND the car waiting to turn left opposite you. It is the other driver's responsibility AND ONLY the other driver's responsibility, to look beyond you to see that other drivers (who HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY) are behind you...

I hope that is clear enough.

Out of curiosity, where did you learn to drive? What you originally described is incredibly unsafe and while I see what you were thinking (line of sight visibility) it is NOT the legal (much less suggested or usual) way to make a left turn.
 
Don't pull way out into the intersection anymore. Take your cue from how the "protected" (left turn only) lanes are set up. Make your turn in front of the oncoming vehicle. If you doubt he is turning, or not going to stop going straight, don't initiate your turn until they start theirs. Be aware that the car behind your initial car may not be turning.

As stated above, be predictable. Throwing an unusual process into the mix increases the hazards to all participants even if the move might technically be safer. (I personally don't feel it is.)
 
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being predictable is the safe way to make a left turn. Do it the way everyone else does so they can predict what you are doing as well. sounds like your maneuver is unpredictable, therefore probably not the safest maneuver.
 
The street we were both turning left onto is Divisadero st. in SF it has a small median, and is 2 lanes in each direction.

I learned to drive in Massachusetts, I got my license when I was 16 I'm 32 now. I drive every day for my job and think I started doing this move because so many times the other driver doesn't pull into the intersection and it just creates an awkward guessing game of when is the other driver gonna go so I just put that behind me and make the move. I mostly do it on the bike but do it in a car as well. It might be because I learned how to drive in the Boston area and it's my inner masshole coming out.
 
Yeah. Divisadero doesn't count. There's a median, but it's not really a fully divided roadway. Best advice for you is to not continue doing that.
 
Making a left turn in front of an oposing left turner isn't just the only way to do it, it's the only way to do it by design of the roadway. You must be nearly or completely missing your left turn to do it the way you're describing. Even if there's a center turn lane.
 
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if you signal while trying this move, they might turn in front of you, thinking you're going to turn.

If you DON'T signal, the person behind you will assume you're going straight when you go most of the way through the intersection, then rearend you when you jam on the brakes to make your turn.

Just turn like you're supposed to.
 
A 4-way intersection is designed so that there's space between two cars making left turns in opposing directions. Enough space so that someone guiding traffic can stand in the center of the intersection and not be hit by turning vehicles. I was looking for a visual but i can't find one. I remember it from the DMV booklet 12+ years ago.

Edit: this is all i could find:

Turns_CA.jpg
 
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