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Unprotected left turns are potentially perilous for the masses of unskilled and unable to discern momentum, distance as well as too timid to accelerate drivers (ladies who lunch piloting 400+hp Porsche Macan Turbos as if they were Prius V’s). It is evident in 1000s of dash-cam videos and in most of our day-to-day driving.
But for the rest of us we can easily figure it out, signal and calmly get in the proper lane and proceed when we know we have the space for our car’s performance characteristics to safely complete a simple maneuver.
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Many Cross-sections here, which are very busy going West/East and not so busy North/South, are slow but sure changed to what is shown on the attached picture.
Going east/west: The left turn traffic is early rerouted to cross the opposite lanes before the crossing!
Going north/south, the regular crossing with left- and right turn only lanes ...
The other thing they are doing here is making the very busy direction a "Flexi Lane".
Depending on the time of the day, there are more lanes going one direction as the opposite direction.
Are you talking about a center lane where cars going in either direction pull into while waiting to make a left turn? Those can be scary - especially when two of you pull into it going in opposite directions because your left turns are across from each other. Add in another car that is using it as an acceleration lane to merge with traffic and you really have a fun situation. We call them suicide lanes.
I don't see a problem with a regular dedicated left turn lane, however.
The problem with these left turn lanes in the San Antonio area is all the people who use them to pull out of a parking lot and sit there and wait until they can merge right into traffic... so that people wanting to actually use it as designed cant. It makes me wanna scream Every.Single.Day. If there's not a law specifically forbidding this, there should be. And if there IS, I'd gladly sit in traffic for however long it took the underappreciated traffic cop to write all the tickets he could.
The problem with these left turn lanes in the San Antonio area is all the people who use them to pull out of a parking lot and sit there and wait until they can merge right into traffic... so that people wanting to actually use it as designed cant. It makes me wanna scream Every.Single.Day. If there's not a law specifically forbidding this, there should be. And if there IS, I'd gladly sit in traffic for however long it took the underappreciated traffic cop to write all the tickets he could.
Are these specifically designated as "left turn ONLY" lanes, or are they the center 'chicken lanes' found all over the country? Because the latter are for both safe left turns out of traffic, and for merging into left-bound traffic without having to wait for both directions to clear. Unless the drivers are sitting on top of lane labels to the contrary, they're using them exactly the way they're supposed to be used.
The problem with these left turn lanes in the San Antonio area is all the people who use them to pull out of a parking lot and sit there and wait until they can merge right into traffic... so that people wanting to actually use it as designed cant. It makes me wanna scream Every.Single.Day. If there's not a law specifically forbidding this, there should be. And if there IS, I'd gladly sit in traffic for however long it took the underappreciated traffic cop to write all the tickets he could.
I don't think I have ever seen anything like that. Do you have a Google Map link to the location?
OK thanks. I misread the post. I know what a two-way left turn lane is. It is legal in most states to use it as a merge lane. Personally I don't like them. I would rather have a raised median and dedicated one way left turn lanes. They are designed to move traffic, over safety. Here in Oregon they are converting a lot of four lane roads to three lane roads with a two way left turn lane. The argument is that it is safer then have cars stopped in a through lane waiting to turn left. Personally I think it's a bad idea, mostly because it's a loss of a lot of lane capacity.
Last edited by Cloudy Dayz; 10-04-2018 at 10:04 PM..
It is WRONG to use a double left turn lane as a merge for the left turn from a side road.
I was stopped waiting to turn left into a driveway when someone came from my right and tried to enter the double left lane where I already was. He swerved to his right and almost hit the oncoming car I was waiting for before I turned. He would have been in even more trouble if I had started the turn.
It is high time this merging use of the double left lane be prohibited and ticketed.
It is WRONG to use a double left turn lane as a merge for the left turn from a side road.
I was stopped waiting to turn left into a driveway when someone came from my right and tried to enter the double left lane where I already was. He swerved to his right and almost hit the oncoming car I was waiting for before I turned. He would have been in even more trouble if I had started the turn.
It is high time this merging use of the double left lane be prohibited and ticketed.
Depends where you live. It's fine in California but may not be in other states. Problem is people don't look where they're going. Since he didn't look where he wanted to put his car, he didn't notice that there was a car already occupying where he wanted to go. I would have just turned left into the center lane and stopped and waited for you to make your turn. If I couldn't do that because there wasn't room, I'd either be cheeky and make a hard left and get in the center lane behind you or just wait.
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