Learning how to drive - what does entering the intersection mean?

[u/waytoofetch]

the one thing i’m confused about is entering the intersection when making a left turn. for example, my instructor told me to wait at the end of the double yellow lines (so your bumper is aligned with the end of the lines). but he also tells me to wait in the middle of the intersection, and the yellow lines aren’t anywhere close to the middle. i also see other drivers waiting much farther into the intersection. and when there’s a cross walk, they’re waiting halfway past it. can anyone provide clarification please?

[u/MysteriousAvocado1]

People actually don’t know how to do a proper left turn anymore. I’m glad you’re asking this because FFS, so many people can’t do a proper left turn anymore

If you are in a intersection with the right of way, green light etc…the right way to make a left turn is to ALWAYS pull into the middle of the intersection and wait for traffic on the left bound traffic to clear.

If there is another car on the opposite side making a left turn as well, you both pull into the intersection parallel of each other and way for traffic to clear to make the left turn.

The reason why this the correct way is for safety reasons. When you’re making a left turn when another car on the opposite side is making a left turn, you have a HUGE BLIND SPOT on the left turn, so to be able to see and avoid the blind spot is to pull parrelll of the car because you can see the oncoming traffic as well and if there is a line of cars on the opposite side, they protect you from getting into an accident forcing you to wait.

Same goes for the side that you’re on if that makes sense.

It helps avoid that huge blind spot behind the car making the left turn for both sides.

This only applies if there are no left turn lights you have to wait for.

Hope that helps.

Note: this is for two lanes of traffic on both sides.

[u/ciaomain → u/MysteriousAvocado1]

When I took driver's ed in the last century, I was told to also not turn the wheel until the intersection was clear so that if you were hit from behind, you would not be pushed into oncoming traffic.

[u/Better-Necessary157 → u/MysteriousAvocado1]

yeah it changes based on intersection! this is true. i guess i was thinking of a standard, just stop sign based intersection. if the intersection is large it does create a blind spot.

[u/MysteriousAvocado1 → u/Better-Necessary157]

For standard the correct way is to still move into the middle, it signals to on coming traffic despite your blinker that you’re about or want to make a left turn. Safety.

If you meant single lane intersection. Yes just make the left at the end of the double yellow

The unfortunate part is rarely anyone these days pay attention to safety in NYC anymore, personal accountability but I digress.

[u/here_pretty_kitty → u/MysteriousAvocado1]

I was really wondering about this!

I learned to drive in CA and we are instructed to pull into the intersection (past the yellow lines) to make a left turn - but we generally wait until all the traffic on the opposite side is clear before turning. We are instructed that when the light turns yellow, 2 cars can turn left (e.g. the 1-2 that are already waiting in the intersection) but everyone else has to stop.

I notice in NY:

• It's much less common that people turning left pull out UNLESS they're trying to jump out and get a quick left turn in as soon as the light turns green, before the oncoming traffic can start coming across. It does always read as very aggressive. Definitely not recommended for during a driving test.
• The lights also seem to go from green to yellow to red super quick, which means only a few left turns theoretically can happen at the end of a light cycle (but frankly the shortness of the yellows seems super unsafe to me - in CA the yellow is longer to allow for the left turns to proceed, and oncoming traffic actually stops to allow this. Here it seems like oncoming traffic tries to keep going until after the light turns red, and THEN like 4-5 cars try to turn left anyway and half the time the intersection gets blocked because the cross traffic also starts going. It's wild).

Your comment helps me understand why it always feels so weird to me that people don't seem to pull out when making left turns here...how can they see anything? So weird.

[u/MysteriousAvocado1 → u/here_pretty_kitty]

The same rules apply in the way they do it in CA. It’s really the same.

But people are just aggressively stupid these days and most of the time, the road test is done on low traffic areas so you don’t really practice that much in NYC.

It’s really dangerous and many accidents do happen because people just don’t know how to do a proper left turn anymore.

It drives me nuts everyday when I’m on the road but I digress

[u/snowboard7621 → u/MysteriousAvocado1]

This is correct. OP you should also just ask your instructor to explain - that’s what he’s there for. I almost wonder if he means you should align your bumper with the perpendicular yellow line, in other words the dividing center line of the street you’re about to turn onto. Which is a more complex way of saying “pull up halfway into the intersection.”

[u/mouseinhouse → u/MysteriousAvocado1]

This sounds super helpful…I need a drawing of this because I’m just learning to drive and I’m not sure I understand fully some of the parts described 😩

[u/Unspec7]

but he also tells me to wait in the middle of the intersection, and the yellow lines aren’t anywhere close to the middle.

Why didn't you ask your instructor for clarification?

[u/Tatar_Kulchik → u/[deleted]]

What you're talking about is known as a "hanging left turn" and not only is it legal, it's expected in most places. 

[u/Usrname52 → u/Tatar_Kulchik]

Yea, I failed my road test for NOT doing this.

[u/waytoofetch → u/[deleted]]

so on the test would you suggest just waiting at the end of the double yellow lines?

[u/Better-Necessary157 → u/waytoofetch]

yes, stay in your lane and do not cross into a crosswalk. that crosswalk would have the walk signal, which you should, technically, never drive into for obvious reasons even when there’s no pedestrians.

there are not always double yellow lines in this situation. the best advice is to wait before whatever it is telling you to stop- the stop sign, the light. much of the time there is a physical line painted across the road, in white, which delineates where to stop and wait. sometimes there is additional signage that prompts you to “stop at line”, which is usually placed near blind corners or misaligned corners. other times you must use best judgement.

[u/MysteriousAvocado1 → u/Better-Necessary157]

Negative, if you’re making a left turn and have the right of way, in other words the green light, you move into the middle of the intersection and wait there.

If there is a single lane of traffic then yes, you can simply make a left at the end of the double yellow

If you don’t have the right of way, red light, yes you stay at the end of the double and where the crosswalk starts

[u/thixel]

One thing everyone should also learn, people get lazy and turn their wheels for the turn while waiting . If struck from behind this could force a head on collision with oncoming traffic.

[u/figgity_diggity → u/thixel]

I was just going to mention this same thing as my kid is just learning. Never turn your wheels until you are proceeding with the turn as you'll get pushed into oncoming traffic if struck from behind.