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OK, I have to ask since this is literally happening to me every day since I moved here.
Is there some kind of law in NY where the 1st person in a left turn lane that is SUPPOSED to yield to oncoming traffic is supposed to go first? I've nearly hit 10 people in a month, and every time the other person looks at me as if I am the one doing something wrong.
It would be a stupid law, and I'm assuming that it is just certain people being impatient jerks, but when I commented on it today my husband said he was wondering the same thing. I understand when you are sitting at the light not paying attention, but I have a lead-foot so these people are literally driving into a moving lane assuming they won't get killed.
You should try driving in Brooklyn where every jerk tries to pull up on your right at a red light, just to pass you (or try to) when the light turns green.
You should have been here before EZ pass too, when some lanes on the bridges took tokens. Naturally in the token lanes, prepared people would speed right through while the cash lanes had lines of 75 cars. Some balls acks used to drive up to the token lane, stop their car, walk over to the cash lane to buy a token, then walk back to their car, drop the token in and drive away.
If someone would have advocated the electric chair for these people I'd have been his biggest supporter.
Is there some kind of law in NY where the 1st person in a left turn lane that is SUPPOSED to yield to oncoming traffic is supposed to go first? I've nearly hit 10 people in a month, and every time the other person looks at me as if I am the one doing something wrong.
If you're making a left you must yield for oncoming traffic. Go if you think you have enough time between cars, you don't have to wait for no one to be coming at you. If you hit someone while making a left you will be in the wrong as you failed to yield.
The only time you don't have to yield to oncoming traffic while making a left is when you get the little green left arrow-the oncoming traffic will still have a red light, allowing you to go first.
I was just debating this topic with my husband the other day, and we concluded that NY drivers are more aggressive: the aforementioned left turns, passing/lane changes, going 100 mph on the Saw Mill Pkwy, etc.) but LA drivers are just worse as a whole: either ignorant of how to drive, illegal/no license, multitasking a million different things (I've seen people reading the full newspaper on the 405 fwy - no joke), or road coma from sitting in traffic for hours at a time.
I have noticed this as well and it drives me batty! Seriously, the light turns green, I hit the gas and the jerk across decides to turn left in front of me. And it's not like I'm asleep at the wheel and the light is green forever - I'm the person honking at you if you don't go the second the light turns green, I admit it. But the turning left thing annoys the crap out of me, and I've never seen it anywhere but around here.
Is there some kind of law in NY where the 1st person in a left turn lane that is SUPPOSED to yield to oncoming traffic is supposed to go first? I've nearly hit 10 people in a month, and every time the other person looks at me as if I am the one doing something wrong.
If you nailed it to turn left in front of me I'd honk too. Law or no law, maybe you ought to be taking the hint. I'm sure the lead foot doesn't help either.
As others said, I'm pretty certain that officially the person making the left is supposed to wait. Sometimes though, the people turning will continue to turn even a few seconds after their own light turns red, and also gun it to try to make their turn before the people going straight get into the intersection. Its wrong to do, but some people see it as a courtesy that the people going straight allow the "turner" to go in front of them.
I've noticed that in some towns/places, there are certain intersections that are notorious for having a situation where there is a green that's not long enough, with a lot of people wanting to make lefts, etc. and often gets backed up. I admit that I'm sometimes guilty of doing this, but also when someone does it to me, I slow up and let them turn. Then again, I've been driving in Brooklyn the last 12 years where this is much more common. There are a lot of places where if you don't either run a red light, or resort to this tactic, you will never get your turn.
I'm the one going straight....they are the ones that are cutting ME off. My reference to the lead-foot was just to clarify that I'm not there at the red light doing my makeup, then getting mad when they go before I figure out that the light turned.
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