Question About U-Turns
 

I did a search but couldn't find anything pertaining to this so here is my question.

I have long been aware of the (supposedly little-known) law that states--at least in the state of Georgia--that if you are making a left-hand turn at a red light from a one-way street onto another one-way street, that it is okay to go on red because it is the same as turning right at a regular stoplight (since you're only yielding to traffic coming from one direction). I have freaked out at least a few passengers by honoring this allowance in downtown Athens, GA, where there are quite a few criss-crossed one-way streets.

Anyway, my question pertains to U-turns. I have logically deduced this out in my head and to me it makes perfect sense...but I just wonder if I'm being stubborn just because I want to be right about it. Say you are driving down a divided highway (the kind with a cement barrier between the two opposite directions of traffic but not the kind with an actual median), and you arrive at a stop-light where you need to make a U-Turn...if the light for the left-turn lane is a red arrow or even if the light is red altogether, as long as no one is coming from the other direction (i.e. not perpendicular but parallel--the complete opposite direction), what would it hurt by going ahead and making the U-turn? To me, this is the same traffic exchange as making a left turn from one one-way street onto another one-way street at a red light.

Am I onto something here, or am I just looking for an excuse to run red lights?

Well...how do you know that the oncoming traffic (the cars traveling in the opposite direction of you but on the same road) do not have a green light?

Does that make sense?

I do it all of the time:o

My guess is no. You can make a right on red because you're hardly entering the intersection at all, and there's only one place interference can come from - your left. It's similar if you want to make a left on red from one one-way street onto another (this is legal in New York State as well, with the exception of New York City, where even rights on red are illegal unless there's a sign saying it's ok). But if you're making a U-turn, you have to get pretty far into the intersection to execute the turn, and you can get interference from your left, the oncoming direction, and possibly your right.

Also, if there's a red left arrow (not just a red light but an actual red arrow) you can't even make the left, never mind the U-turn.

However, if you have a green left arrow, it's guaranteed that oncoming traffic and traffic to your right would have a red light, so in that case you can make the U-turn.

Take a left on red from Lumpkin to Washington for me!
Woo hoo, Athens, Georgia!

(But Athens makes up for this potential left-on-red fun by banning rights on red at other random intersections. I'm pretty sure you can't go right on red at Baldwin and Lumpkin, right? I know I got a pretty pricey ticket and got pulled over into what used to be the health center (but is now the Romance Language department, I think) while I was there. It was kind of embarrassing for a lot of reasons.)

Logic has nothing to do with it.

What does the law in your state say?

Are you really that stupid?

Answer to your post is no, right turn on red only after stop!

If I was in my Police car and saw you do that, well, a ticket!:D

You Obey the lights.

Usaually U-Turns will follow along the same lines!

They are dangerous and can get you and others killed!:rolleyes:

Tom Earp, did YOU just call me stupid?

You can go right on red there now, but that could easily be a recent development. The left on red that I most often would do was left onto Hull from Washington.

I believe he did. And yet he claims that other people are so rude.

It seemed stupid that it wasn't allowed then, hence I think, why I never even saw the sign prohibiting it. (It was particularly annoying because it was late at night with no traffic other than Mr. Police Officer and me, so any immediate, real safety issues were moot.)

In general, with left turns, I think when there is a separate arrow, it means you can't go at all until it's green again, even you'd be clear to turn at a light with no arrow. The arrow being red is just as legally binding as a red light.

In my city, you can make a left hand turn @ a two way stop where the lanes are one way only.

But i'm pretty sure that it is illegal to make a U-Turn on a red light. How would you know that you'd be safe to make a U-Turn. Sure you don't see the person coming at first, but then all of a sudden *BAM* there they are out of nowhere, driving like a bat outta hell.

I'd say to be safe, i'd make a U-Turn when the light turns green. It ISN'T the same as making a left turn on a one way street (left turn is the same as making a regular right hand turn on a red light).

In Michigan, it's only legal if there is a meridian that is at least 60 feet wide, so a cement barrier alone probably wouldn't let it qualify. You would still have to stop at the red first, then proceed if traffic is clear.

This whole thread is confusing me, so I could be repeating something. I do agree that it is illegal and dangerous. You think it is clear at first, but what about when your back is turned to the traffic after making the u-turn? It takes time to get at normal speed. I see enough trouble when it is just a green light (not an arrow) and the left turn lane has to yield to oncoming traffic. Also, what about the cars that are making a right turn into the same lane that you are trying to u-turn into?

Aren't U-turns in most states illegal anyways? They are in Michigan. That's why we have the wonderful MICHIGAN LEFTS!

To answer your question, I"m thinking that if it's a red arrow, it's definitely illegal.

This pisses me off on Telegraph down by that stretch of Van Born to Cherry Hill, where it's mostly viaducts (sp?) and nowhere to make a left.

You're in Missouri, Tom. She's in Georgia. Traffic laws vary from state to state, especially with regard to u-turns, right-on-red, left-on-red and similar laws.

minDyG, the Georgia Driver's Manual (p. 40) specifically mentions right-on-red and left-on-red, but says nothing about u-turns-on-red. With regard to left-on-red, it specifically conditions that right as follows: "from the left lane of a one way street only onto a one way street on which the traffic moves toward the driver’s left." A u-turn is not a left turn, nor are you turning onto a one-way street that moves to your left, so it would not seem to satisfy this condition.

The only mention of u-turns in the book (p. 44) says "Do not make a U-turn where signs prohibit doing so." Arguably, a red light is a sign or signal prohibiting any movement, except for right- or left- turns as allowed.

I would assume it's not legal unless something can be found specifically saying that it is.

Isn't the only move legal at a red light is a right hand turn unless otherwise noted?

No, I am in Kansas!;)

I guess you could do a U-Turn if not caught or T-Boned!:)

LOL.

The correct answer to this is, "Pot, this is my friend Kettle...what color are you today?"

Thanks. These two responses are pretty much the kinds of feedback I'm looking for...everyone who is just repeating the fact that you can't go at a red-light is a bit redundant. :)

Well that would feel like I was admitting to being stupid myself in the first place. :D

Meh, it's Earp anyway. Half the people here have him on ignore and the other 49% don't pay any attention to his drunk rants anyway.

I did find it literally LOL funny that he would think to call someone stupid. I know it's just a persona that he puts on here to make everyone feel sorry for his pathtic ass, but you can't play the duel role of the town drunk and the villiage idiot and expect anyone to respect anything you say/do.

It depends on the state.

Sorry. Thought you were on the Missouri side.

In WI, as far as I know, you cannot make U-turns at controlled intersections.

Colorado law is a little sketchy on these things.

It says something like (really paraphrasing here) U turns are allowed in safe areas. Generally, if they don't want you to make one at an intersection, it is marked No U Turns.

Right turns on red after full stops are legal unless marked otherwise.

Left turns from a far left lane of a one way street to the far left lane of a crossing one way street are legal unless marked otherwise.

It is illegal to make any turn if there is a red arrow pointing in that direction.

Now, here's a good Colorado question:

If two cars meet going different directions on a one lane mountain road, who has the right or way, the car going uphill or the one going down?

The car coming down is my guess for having the right of way.

(I'm basing this off the somewhat frequent run-away-truck-lanes that you see for coming down the mountain. You wouldn't want the burden to yield to on the guy already worried about speed control, IMHO.)

Your are correct, although I can see arguments for both. Backing up either way on a narrow mountain road is scary.

U-Turns in Georgia
 

U-turns are legal in Georgia, as long as the road is straight and there's no sign. There's no requirement on how wide the median must be.

I'm pretty sure that if an officer saw you make your "U-turn-on-red" that he'd pull you over and cite you for running the red light. I don't see how the statute can be applied to permit you to make a "turn in the opposite direction," but I haven't pulled the case law.

There's a handy free online version of the Georgia Code at

http://www.lexis-nexis.com/hottopics/gacode/default.asp


From the Official Code of Georgia:

§ 40-6-121. U-turns

No vehicle shall be turned so as to proceed in the opposite direction:
(1) Upon any curve;
(2) Upon the approach to or near the crest of a grade where such vehicle cannot be seen by the driver of another vehicle approaching from either direction;
(3) Where such turn cannot be made in safety and without interfering with other traffic; or
(4) Where a prohibition is posted.


§ 40-6-21 (a)(3)(D) Left Turn on Red

Traffic, except pedestrians, facing a steady CIRCULAR RED signal, after stopping as provided in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, may make a left turn from the left-hand lane of a one-way street onto a one-way street on which the traffic moves toward the driver's left but shall stop and remain stopped for pedestrians and yield the right of way to other traffic proceeding as directed by the signal at such intersection. Such vehicular traffic shall not make a left turn against a steady CIRCULAR RED signal at any intersection where a sign is erected prohibiting such left turn;

^^^ Like I said, a u-turn is not a left turn. I wouldn't assume that a u-turn qualifies as a left-turn permitted on a red light unless a police officer or someone else with some authority told me so.

It depends on the State.

Like, I believe MysticCat said--- In my city, you are allowed to make a left hand turn on a red IF the street your turning on is a one way heading left.