The Left Turn Across Three Lanes
You are stopped at a red light in the left-turn lane of a busy four-lane road, waiting to turn left onto a cross street. Your light turns green - a solid green circle, not a green arrow. Across the intersection, oncoming traffic has a green light too. You need to cross two oncoming through lanes plus a dedicated oncoming left-turn lane. A large box truck in the nearest oncoming lane is stopped, blocking your view of the lanes beyond it. A car behind you honks. The light has been green for about 4 seconds.
1. What does the solid green circle permit, and who must you yield to?
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A solid green circle means you may proceed, but a left turn is permissive, not protected. You must yield to:
- Oncoming through traffic, which has the same green,
- Oncoming vehicles turning right onto your cross street,
- Pedestrians in the crosswalk you are entering.
Only a green arrow gives you a protected turn. There is no arrow here, so the honking car behind you has no claim on the right of way - the horn is pressure, not permission. Do not enter the intersection to "claim" the turn until you can see the path is clear.
2. The box truck blocks your view of the far lanes. What is the risk, and how do you handle it?
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The truck is a visibility wall. A vehicle in the lanes beyond it could be approaching at speed and you would not see it until you were already in its path - the classic "left turn across traffic" crash, where the turning driver never sees the oncoming car.
Handling it:
- Do not turn on the assumption that no car is there. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
- Creep forward only enough to see past the truck, and only if you can do so without blocking the crosswalk or the oncoming lane.
- Wait for a gap you can actually verify. If the truck is stopped for a reason (traffic ahead, a pedestrian), that reason may clear at any moment and release a wave of traffic.
- If the light cycles to yellow while you are waiting, complete the turn only when clear; do not turn blindly to beat the light.
If you cannot see, you cannot go.