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Legal to go straight through a right turning lane?

15K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  crazyguy 
#1 ·
Folks,

I wonder if it is legal to go straight if you are in a right turning lane like in tis picture:





City buses do it all the time as their stop is on the right side past the intersection. However I have seen several vehicles almost getting smoked as they assume the bus will turn right and not straight.

Is what the buses do legal?

cheers

Tx
 
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#2 ·
I am not sure, but I was in an accident once.
I was turning like the white pickup in the picture and some moron who was driving in the "RIGHT TURN ONLY" lane with its blinker on decided to go straight at the last minute and hit me. YES, this moron T BONED ME and fled the scene.... YEAH FLED! one of the witnesses was a friend of the moron and called her to come back to the scene, surprisingly no ticket was handed out at the time..

Verdict? 100% my fault.. So ICBC says.... Yeah.. So i can't tell you if it's legal or not, but if you get hit by a MORON doing that... you are SOL.
 
#5 ·
Thanks, thats what I thought. The issue is that city buses do it all the time (every bus I have seen there does it) and they dont slow down. It is just a matter of time until someone gets smoked there.

Is there a good way to stop that dangerous practice? Will cops care if told? Or should I contact the bus company/city?
 
#8 ·
The signs are there but people just dont look for them. For instance, crossing Austen going north or south at Lougheed mall. We can go straight through because there are signs before the intersection. They are usually place high
and most people would not even think to look. The problem there is that there is a Tim Hortons (gas station) on the south side and it gets pretty tense sometimes when we go through. They allow us to do this because of the traffic back up in # 2 and 3 lanes.
 
#9 ·
The signs are there but people just dont look for them.
The signs are there for traffic going in the same direction. As in the OP's example, West bound 6th St traffic see's the sign, but East bound traffic has no signage about transit being able to go through the right turn lane, thus creating confusion.

Or are you saying that one should drive around for a few blocks looking for any signage in any direction before turning left. :)



 
#10 ·
the person turning right has the "right of way" over someone turning left.when turning left,you must wait for the person turning right to clear the intersection before proceeding.
you can turn left only when there is sufficient time to complete your turn and clear the intersection before oncoming traffic enters the intersection.
 
#13 ·
The issue is not just the white truck and who has the right of way. The issue is buses going straight where people expect them to turn.

Also people coming from the right (where the white truck is coming from) expect the bus to turn, instead it goes straight.
 
#15 ·
Again, this isnt about if the white truck has to yield to the bus. Its about that the blue car wants to turn right and assumes the bus turns right and as such the blue car will be tempted to pull out and get smoked by the bus.

I filed a complaind with translink but they pretty much dont give a fuck.
 
#16 ·
Again, this isnt about if the white truck has to yield to the bus. Its about that the blue car wants to turn right and assumes the bus turns right and as such the blue car will be tempted to pull out and get smoked by the bus.

I filed a complaind with translink but they pretty much dont give a fuck.
The keyword is ASSUMES! You should refrain from assuming a bus or some other self centered asshole is going to obey the traffic control device.
 
#17 ·
dont turn left unless you are 1000% sure you have the right of way to do so. if you are trying to turn left always assume the car coming towards you with its right turn signal has the right of way.

totaled a cherokee a few years ago because some dummy going the other way wanted to turn left and thought i had my turn signal on to turn right. she turns left in front of me as I go straight through intersection and we hit my left front corner to there right front corner. get out of vehicle and she's telling me I had my signal on to turn right its my fault, told her no I was going straight no turn signal on. deal with towing yada yada yada, call ICBC tell my story person taking my claim says the no matter if I was turning or not I had right of way. my claim rep phones next day takes my story again and also says same thing about me having right of way even if I had been turning right, phones back day after to say other person finally reported and our stories match up and she needs no further info to assign 100% fault to the other driver because she drove into my right of way.
moral of the story, dont turn left even if you think the person coming towards you is turning right or legally must turn right. you never know if they are going to turn signal off at last second and go straight or disobey the traffic control device.
 
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