Wide (left/right) turn confirmation.

[Black2010]

After my most recent ride along with my local PD the officer I rode with pulled over a car turning out of a parking lot (3am) onto a 3 lane access road. The driver turned into the middle lane and the officer pulled him over for a "wide right turn" since he didn't turn into the right most lane. We talked about this after the stop, and he said that you are required to turn into the nearest lane (left lane when turning left and right lane when turning right). He said he never rights a situation for it but uses it as probable cause to pull people over to do sobriety checks (driver was leaving a bar). Turns out it did wind up as a DWI arrest as the driver was drunk (good thing he was stopped).

And to my question at hand, this got me thinking of situations for which I am at a traffic light turning left where more than one lane turns (say 2 for this example) and we are turning onto a 3 lane road. I know that if I am in the left most turn lane I must turn into the left most lane, but what about the person in the other turn lane. Are they required to turn into the center lane or right lane? I always turn into the right lane as people tend to not pay much attention and will turn into the center lane from the left most lane. Yesterday when I did this I almost got hit by a car turning right onto the street we were turning onto as they were turning right from the other side of the intersection (assume failure to yield on their part since we had a protected green arrow and they had a yield sign). Just curious though what the requirement is for that situation.

Figured I would post it up as I'm not sure how many non-officers would even know about this regulation too.

 

[oldmodman]

The laws vary by States.
Here in California the right turn must start and end in the right lane. unless there are multiple lanes turning right.
A left turn may end in any of the lanes, unless doing so would take the right of way from someone making a right turn at the same time. But only at left turn lanes that are not marked with different instructions. Some tell you to end you turn in only the left lane.

 

[Zemedici]

As Drew said it varies by state, but I know there's tons of assholes out here that believe its legal to just make a right in front of traffic, whereas they stay in the far right lane. Still illegal. Must yield to ALL oncoming traffic prior to merging onto roadway.

 

[Gravik]

I got a ticket for this years ago. Left turn onto a one way street. 2 lanes. No one was coming. I turned into the far lane.

 

[noldevin]

My friend's mustang was just totalled because of someone doing this onto a highway unexpectedly.

I think multi-lane intersections are pretty self explanitory. In most cases each lane will be marked with whether you are supposed to turn or go straight in that lane (or both). At least in NJ, those lanes are usually marked through the turn so that hopefully no one crosses into the next lane. They still do though.

 

[CV355]

I was always taught to turn into the nearest lane and then use a blinker to cross later on. I learned to drive a cahhh south of Bahhhston.

I now live in SC. Road laws? Nah. It's awful. Absolutely horrendously awful. Backwoods troglodytes bum around 25mph under in rusted rattle-can-camo pickups without functioning headlights/taillights, don't know what blinkers are (I am close to the BMW factory, so it makes sense), and cut across as many lanes as possible while texting. It's like some alternate universe where we're stuck in the '70s with a crumbling infrastructure, but everyone has narcolepsy and a cell phone. They think the yellow line is for lining up the center of their car, and a double-yellow means slam on the brakes randomly.

I have been hit on a motorcycle by people lane-cutting, and have had too many near-misses to count.

 

[03machme]

In Texas there is no "wide left turn" when turning onto a two way street. The wide left turn only applies to turning left onto a one way street. There is a left turn into wrong lane when there is more than one lane turning left. There is wide right turn but it only applies to turning from one street to another, not when leaving a private drive.

T.T.C. 545.101. Turning at Intersection.

(a) To make a right turn at an intersection, an operator shall make both the approach and the turn as closely as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway.