Question About U-Turns

[epchick]

Originally Posted by minDyG

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?

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).