 |
| Turn left any darn time you please. Photo: Flickr/johnmarchan |
When I took Driver’s Ed at age 15, I learned that when
making left turns at intersections, one must yield to oncoming traffic.
Drivers in Michigan and the other Midwest states I had lived in seemed in general to follow
this rule.
A few years ago I moved to Long Island, NY,
and noticed that a lot of people ignored this right-of-way system. As soon as
the traffic light turned green, drivers on the opposite side of the
intersection would cut off oncoming traffic by making a left turn immediately. At
first I thought this was an isolated incident, but I’ve been seeing this on a daily basis.
Is this a regional trend?
I once read in AAA Magazine
that these illegal lefts were called “Philadelphia Left Turns.” I have no idea
why, and couldn’t find any information on the internet about it. If you know
the origins, please feel free to elaborate in the comments.
I then looked at the New York Department of Motor
Vehicles website to see if perhaps the rules had changed (maybe in just New York?). Nope, its
manual looks pretty similar to what I saw back in my high school days:
If drivers approaching from opposite directions reach an
intersection at about the same time, a driver turning left must yield to
approaching traffic going straight or turning right.
Example: You want to turn left at an intersection ahead. A vehicle is approaching from the opposite direction, going straight ahead. You must wait for approaching traffic to go through before you turn. You may enter the intersection, however, to prepare for your left turn if the light is green and no other vehicle ahead of you is preparing for a left turn. When approaching traffic clears or stops for a red light, complete your turn.
Example: You want to turn left at an intersection ahead. A vehicle is approaching from the opposite direction, going straight ahead. You must wait for approaching traffic to go through before you turn. You may enter the intersection, however, to prepare for your left turn if the light is green and no other vehicle ahead of you is preparing for a left turn. When approaching traffic clears or stops for a red light, complete your turn.
Perhaps this isn’t a regional trend, but more of a sign of
the growing impatience of a society that is use to instant gratification. Or
maybe there are just a lot of aggressive drivers out there. Either way, it’s
annoying and dangerous.
I doubt anything will change in the near future, but one can
vent, right?
What driving antics annoy you?
0 comments:
Post a Comment