can someone tell me if yielding when turning right is the law here??? (Atlanta: live in, cars)

[billl]

Originally Posted by dscott300

Careful what you wish for. There is an intersection that I com across every day where there used to be a yield sign for the right turn only lane that has been taken down. The problem now is that all the "regulars" turning left still think that the sign is there so they go ahead and turn ... but so do the people turning right ... CRASH!

Yes because people have gotten used to those signs. But left turners can't clearly see if such a sign exists at any given intersection and absent that sign they have an obligation to yield. That's why I say those signs are nutty. They do nothing but create confusion.

[billl]

Originally Posted by ElleKaye

I had to bail out after the first two or three posts so I am sure I missed a lot. Let me get this straight, the person is at a yield sigh with oncoming that has a green light and thinks they can just turn willy nilly and expect every other diver to accommodate them. It's one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard regarding driving, and I have heard a lot of crazy talk.

No, it's the yield sign that's ridiculous. Without it, someone turning right on a green has the right of way over someone in the opposite direction turning left on the same green. That's the way it should be. Instead the yield sign tells the person turning right to yield. So they both have to yield. Who has the right of way? No one.... or as is often the case, whoever is bold enough to make the first move.

Nobody else has something to do that makes their time just as important or vital as yours? If you see a red lot, stop. When there is an opportunity to make a right on a red then do it. If it isn't safe then stay in your lane and wait for it.

This isn't about a right on red. This is about a right on green when there's also a yield sign.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by tomoveornot

i have never seen anyone do this before until moving to georgia. i don't know if it's a southern polite thing to do or if it's actually the law. i noticed yield signs when turning right and i assumed they meant yield if there is someone in the crosswalk. but i often see people about to turn right and then stop and let the oncoming left turning car go in front of them! i think this is very hazardous. if i'm behind the right turning car i would never expect him to stop when we have what i assumed was the right away. is the right turning car supposed to wait until all the traffic clears in the lanes next to him so that the left turning car can go? this is crazy. can anyone help me understand this so i don't rear end someone or crash into the guy turning left in front of me when he thought i was yielding?! thanks

According to MUTCD standards, if there is a yield sign, the right turning car must yield to all on coming traffic, whether it be a left turn from the opposite direction, a U turn, or cars coming from the perpendicular. It is state law that ALL cars must stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, when they are crossing with traffic.

[ElleKaye]

Originally Posted by billl

No, it's the yield sign that's ridiculous. Without it, someone turning right on a green has the right of way over someone in the opposite direction turning left on the same green. That's the way it should be. Instead the yield sign tells the person turning right to yield. So they both have to yield. Who has the right of way? No one.... or as is often the case, whoever is bold enough to make the first move.



This isn't about a right on red. This is about a right on green when there's also a yield sign.

Of course if your light is green, the right turner has more of a right of way than the left turner. I'm not sure how that can even be a question. That's just like asking if the on-coming left turner has more of a right of way than the person keeping straight. Yield signs don't address that because there is nothing to address.

[billl]

Originally Posted by ElleKaye

Of course if your light is green, the right turner has more of a right of way than the left turner.

Not if there is a yield sign!

Here is where I commented on this situation earlier in this topic:

//www.city-data.com/forum/22699837-post38.html

[ElleKaye]

Originally Posted by billl

Not if there is a yield sign!

Here is where I commented on this situation earlier in this topic:

//www.city-data.com/forum/22699837-post38.html

Alright, you don't a yield sign at a traffic light where you are turning left. You have to know that you must. Where you put it? The light in front of your head isn't enough of an indicator>?

We are all clear that unless a sign says no left that you yield to oncoming traffic and are clear to make one. If the person making the left at light has a green arrow then the pe4rson making the right would/should see a red light indicating don't do it now.

That's a different discussion. Left turn versus right turn does not win in a situation like this.

[Autocosm]

The way anyone should have learned an intersection should work is to slow down at one, not plow through it.

Right turn lanes with yields (usually at diamond interchanges) are usually for right-turning traffic with a long enough channel to queue in. Yes, at a solid green, opposing traffic would yield to thru traffic. You are not thru traffic. You are queued safely in a channelized turn lane. Opposing traffic turning onto the same ramp as you are given the right-of-way because they urgently have to get out of the way of the intersection, whereas you are in a safe holding lane. You can wait three seconds, it's not a problem.

[rcsteiner]

There is one thing I see a lot that needs to be clarified, I think.

If through traffic is turning left at a light, and they are turning onto a four-lane road with two lanes on each side, they are supposed to turn into the INNER (left) lane. Not the OUTER (right) lane.

That would allow traffic coming towards them in the other direction to turn right on red into their own near (right) lane (the far left lane from the through traffic's perspective) with no interference.

I seem to see a lot of drivers in the ATL metro turning left from a single turn lane into the outer (right) lane of a four-lane road, and that creates risk with right turning incoming traffic that doesn't need to be there. In my opinion.

Look at "Two Way Street onto Two Way Street" on Page 45 of this document for an example, though I notice that none of these examples seem to cover roads with turn lanes.

http://dor.mo.gov/pdf/Chapter4.pdf

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by Autocosm

The way anyone should have learned an intersection should work is to slow down at one, not plow through it.

Right turn lanes with yields (usually at diamond interchanges) are usually for right-turning traffic with a long enough channel to queue in. Yes, at a solid green, opposing traffic would yield to thru traffic. You are not thru traffic. You are queued safely in a channelized turn lane. Opposing traffic turning onto the same ramp as you are given the right-of-way because they urgently have to get out of the way of the intersection, whereas you are in a safe holding lane. You can wait three seconds, it's not a problem.

An old thread revived, but this is how I understand it as well. I don't think I've ever seen a yield sign on right at an intersection that wasn't in a separate lane with an island, although I'm sure they exist around here. In this case, you yield even to left turners. If there is no separate lane, then you have the right of way.

In this intersection, the right-turner would need to stop for the left-turner.
In this intersection, the right-turner has the right of way.

That's how I understand it at least.

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

There is one thing I see a lot that needs to be clarified, I think.

If through traffic is turning left at a light, and they are turning onto a four-lane road with two lanes on each side, they are supposed to turn into the INNER (left) lane. Not the OUTER (right) lane.

Absolutely. This is a big problem all over town.

[Autocosm]

I did revive this thread it seems. I actually enrolled for the forums just to make the post! I was searching the Internet for info on whether this is an issue anywhere else and it does seem to center around Georgia! I have a traffic planning background so it makes sense to me from that end, but I was actually curious to see other perspectives.