Traffic Rules Test

Kinja'd!!! "ncasolowork2" (ncasolowork2)
08/28/2014 at 12:47 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!0 Kinja'd!!! 26

Here's a question that should be on a drivers license exam. I know what my first instinct was, but upon further contemplation I believe I would have failed and been at fault in event of an accident.

You have a 4 way intersection with a stop light. Northbound has a left turn lane and a thru/right lane. East and west also have a left turn lane and a thru/right lane. Southbound has a left turn lane. A thru lane and there's a fork that allows you to go right with a yield sign. There is a traffic island between the thru lane and the turning right lane with the yield sign.

The light is green for north/south. You are headed south and turning right. There is northbound traffic in the left turn lane. Who has the right of way?

The car turning right with the yield sign?

The car turning left with the green light?


DISCUSSION (26)


Kinja'd!!! Gamecat235 > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 12:51

Kinja'd!!!0

My impression, if I understand correctly what you have illustrated is as follows: Turning left with the green light has the right of way. Green (implied yield because left turn) > Yield (implied stop for traffic because yield sign).


Kinja'd!!! rhorizon > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 12:51

Kinja'd!!!0

Car turning left with the green light?

I'd assume that the yield sign would prevent you from continuing if there was conflicting traffic, which in this case I'd think there would be with the left-turning car coming from the north.


Kinja'd!!! ncasolowork2 > Gamecat235
08/28/2014 at 12:53

Kinja'd!!!0

I believe you are correct. I just connected that right turn to the green light and the yield sign to only work when the traffic light is green for east/west bound traffic. Truck was waiting at the yield with a green north/south light and I was scratching my head wondering why.


Kinja'd!!! trmoore09 > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 12:54

Kinja'd!!!0

I would have said right turn has the right of way if it wasn't because of the Yield sign. But because of that, I think the car turning left has the right of way.


Kinja'd!!! OPPOsaurus WRX > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 12:54

Kinja'd!!!0

I would say north has right of way. they have turned and are on the street. right is merging after and has a yield sign. I would also say that the south bound car is not subject to the light but only the yield sign.


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 12:54

Kinja'd!!!0

I'm going say the car turning on the green light has the right of way. The yield sign should be there so the left-turner doesn't get stuck in the intersection. This is similar to highway entrance ramps where the traffic simply moving right has to yield to the cars turning left in front of them. That way the cars turning left don't end up blocking the road.

In other situations, that right-turn cut through doesn't have a Yield sign. In that case, the turn is still controlled by the light. I know somebody who rolled one of those, thinking it was a yield, and got popped for turning right on red without stopping.


Kinja'd!!! ncasolowork2 > rhorizon
08/28/2014 at 12:55

Kinja'd!!!0

I now agree with you. Before I saw a truck stopped at what I assumed was a green light I wouldn't have thought twice about continuing past that yield ignoring it in favor of the light that technically doesn't govern my right turn.


Kinja'd!!! Party-vi > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 12:56

Kinja'd!!!2

Depends. The car turning right with the yield sign has right of way as long as there is no traffic currently going westbound. The car turning left with the green light must cross the intersection and therefore yield to any southbound cars. I encounter this exact situation almost every day. If I'm at the yield sign, I yield if cars are turning left at the intersection going towards where I am. I do not yield if they are waiting for traffic to clear the intersection.


Kinja'd!!! ncasolowork2 > ttyymmnn
08/28/2014 at 12:56

Kinja'd!!!0

A lot of those without a sign will have a right turn arrow if it is OK to roll through without yielding. But yeah you got the rest of it with what I believe is the right answer.


Kinja'd!!! ncasolowork2 > OPPOsaurus WRX
08/28/2014 at 12:58

Kinja'd!!!0

The south bound car not being subject to the light is the key to the correct answer. I always assumed I would be subject to the light when green and yield when red. That would have likely gotten me in trouble at some point had I not seen a truck waiting at a green light for northbound traffic turning left.


Kinja'd!!! ncasolowork2 > Party-vi
08/28/2014 at 12:59

Kinja'd!!!0

yeah in this case there was no other southbound traffic.


Kinja'd!!! Dusty Ventures > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 12:59

Kinja'd!!!2

Definitely left with the green


Kinja'd!!! Party-vi > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 13:01

Kinja'd!!!1

So in this case, there were no cars crossing the intersection to impede traffic turning left across the intersection towards you. You would have to yield to those vehicles if necessary.


Kinja'd!!! OPPOsaurus WRX > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 13:01

Kinja'd!!!0

I face this on my way home from work every day. My lane (we'll call south bound) has the same island with yield sign. east bound has a green arrow. If there is a green arrow that means that no traffic can be coming across in our intended direction of travel. People still STOP at the yield . I understand that if your not familiar with the road you wouldn;t know this but still, stop!?! Ive also had people stop when soundbound has the green light.


Kinja'd!!! ncasolowork2 > OPPOsaurus WRX
08/28/2014 at 13:07

Kinja'd!!!0

I've lived in my current home for a year. This is an intersection I travel through every day for work. I'm usually going straight, but it is less than 2 miles from my house so there are plenty of opportunities for me to travel through this intersection turning right or eastbound, yet this is the first time I can ever remember seeing the southbound through lane clear while a car was turning right and a northbound car turning left at the same time. In 13 months that's how rare it would be for this scenario to come to fruition. That said I've slightly altered how I go to work turning right there based on the color of the light so I have an opportunity to encounter it sooner or later myself.


Kinja'd!!! Gamecat235 > ncasolowork2
08/28/2014 at 13:14

Kinja'd!!!0

There was an intersection like this near my old house. I witnessed a lot of confusion with the behavior of a yield with a right turn at an otherwise signaled intersection. I have had a lot of discussion about this topic (and other nuances of traffic right of way in complex situations) and based upon my understanding, my logic was applied.

*of course, there is always the chance that I am wrong. =)


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > OPPOsaurus WRX
08/28/2014 at 13:53

Kinja'd!!!1

Better to stop at the yield than roll through. The yield sign implies that you are joining traffic that is already moving or traffic that has the ROW.


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > Gamecat235
08/28/2014 at 13:57

Kinja'd!!!1

The key here is the cut through lane. If there is no cut through lane, then the light is controlling all cars and opposing left turn traffic must yield to oncoming traffic. The yield sign is technically after the light, and is controlling the cut through lane. You must yield to any moving traffic. If there is a cut through lane and NO yield sign, then the light controls. Even with the cut through, you must first stop before turning right on red.


Kinja'd!!! OPPOsaurus WRX > ttyymmnn
08/28/2014 at 13:59

Kinja'd!!!0

yes, but with our lane having a green there is no way that traffic could be coming. Very rarely are there people turning left (to join our right) because it is a restaurant across the intersection and at 345pm there arn;t many people leaving from dinner.


Kinja'd!!! Gamecat235 > ttyymmnn
08/28/2014 at 14:01

Kinja'd!!!1

Yep. That was how it was with the intersection near my old place. And it confused the HELL out of other drivers. I can't tell you the number of times I was nearly rear ended or was honked at for following my understanding of this.

They recently (within the last two years) completely expanded and updated the entire intersection, doing away with the cut through and yields.


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > OPPOsaurus WRX
08/28/2014 at 14:03

Kinja'd!!!0

The time of day is irrelevant. Do you run a red light at 3:00 am just because there is no other traffic? Practically, you might. Legally, you can't. Unless I misunderstand your comment.


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > Gamecat235
08/28/2014 at 14:05

Kinja'd!!!0

I'm seeing more and more of these cut throughs being removed in favor of light control. It's just clearer, though I see no ambiguity in the light/yield situation.

You changed your avatar?


Kinja'd!!! OPPOsaurus WRX > ttyymmnn
08/28/2014 at 14:06

Kinja'd!!!0

I think you misunderstood. People taking the right, with the yield sign, are coming from the direction that if you were traveling straight would have had the green. so green light, plus clear road should not equal stop.


Kinja'd!!! Gamecat235 > ttyymmnn
08/28/2014 at 14:10

Kinja'd!!!0

I changed it a couple of months ago. Very few people seemed to notice.

Once I evaluated the logic of the sequence of the intersection (i.e. the yield was not technically part of the signaled intersection) it seemed clear as day to me. But I cannot tell you the number of other people who would disagree with me (both other random motorists or family and friends).


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > Gamecat235
08/28/2014 at 14:15

Kinja'd!!!0

The operative word here being "logic." Logic is a scarce commodity these days. The yield sign is after the light, so it is in force regardless of what the light is indicating.

With avatars being so damned small, it's no wonder nobody noticed. Hell, apparently it took me months to notice too. I wish they were bigger, so we could recognize people by their avatars and not their names. This is a visual medium, after all. What is your avatar? It's almost too small to see.


Kinja'd!!! Gamecat235 > ttyymmnn
08/28/2014 at 14:24

Kinja'd!!!1

Kinja'd!!!

It's the cover of the Curve album Open Day at the Hate Fest . The title has no real bearing on anything, but the symbols are aesthetically pleasing and Curve is, without doubt, my favorite band of all time.

(The symbols were taken from Curve's website around the time of the release of the album, they were all animated and there was a flash toy on their website with a number of musical samples, it was really neat and I wish I had the foresight to have archived the flash files then).