The Spun Sign and the Red Arrow at a Downtown One-Way Pair
At 11:40 p.m. you are northbound in the left lane of a two-lane one-way street in downtown Coeur d'Alene. Both lanes are marked with left-turn arrows, and the street ends at a T-intersection with a one-way street running west. The signal for your movement is a steady red left arrow; a red ball faces the cross street. On the near right corner, a NO TURN ON RED sign has been spun about 45 degrees by wind and is partly behind a low branch, so only the word TURN is readable. On the far left corner an identical sign is fully legible. There is no traffic in any direction and no pedestrians. Your passenger says, "Idaho lets you turn left on red from a one-way onto a one-way, so just go." Behind you, a taxi has pulled up and its driver gestures impatiently.
1. Is a left turn on red permitted at this corner right now? Walk through the signal indication and both signs before you answer.
Read the worked answer
No. The turn is prohibited at this moment. Work through it in order:
- The Idaho one-way-to-one-way rule is a permission, not a right. Turning left on red after a full stop from a one-way onto a one-way is allowed only when no sign or signal prohibits it.
- The indication controls your movement. A steady red arrow means you may not enter the intersection to make the movement the arrow shows. That is narrower and more specific than a circular red, so the general one-way permission does not override a red arrow aimed at your lane.
- **The signs. ** A sign you cannot read because of wind or foliage is still a sign you are required to obey - the damage does not repeal it. Here the far-corner sign is fully legible and duplicates the near one, so there is no real ambiguity about what is posted.
- Light traffic is irrelevant. An empty intersection does not convert a prohibited movement into a legal one, and a honking taxi is not a lawful reason to go.
Stay behind the stop line and wait for the green arrow.
2. Suppose both signs were removed and only the red arrow remained. Could you turn after stopping, and what lane must you enter when the green arrow finally comes?
Read the worked answer
Still no turn on the arrow. A red arrow is a movement-specific prohibition: it means do not enter the intersection to make that turn. The one-way-to-one-way exception in Idaho is written around a stop and then yielding - it is not a license to disregard a red arrow that specifically forbids the movement. If you want the permission to apply, the indication must be a circular red for your approach, which is not what is displayed here.
When the green arrow appears:
- Yield first to any pedestrians in the crosswalk, even though the arrow is protected - a green arrow does not cancel a pedestrian signal in every phasing pattern.
- Signal, then turn into the leftmost lane of the new street, nearest the center line, rather than swinging wide into the right lane. Cutting to the outside lane of a one-way is a common crash pattern because drivers behind expect you to stay left.
- Keep the turn tight and slow; at 11:40 p.m. the risk is a cyclist or a wrong-way driver, not volume.
3. A police officer then walks into the intersection and waves you through the red arrow while the sign remains posted. What governs, and how do you proceed?
Read the worked answer
The officer's direction controls. Traffic-control devices form a hierarchy: signals yield to a police officer or authorized flagger giving directions, and the posted sign does not freeze the intersection once an officer is actively managing it. The statutory scheme expects you to obey the officer even when the signal says otherwise - the officer can see conflicts, a stalled vehicle, or an emergency that the signal cannot.
How to actually do it:
- Make eye contact and confirm the wave is directed at you, not at the cross street.
- Move slowly and scan anyway. Other drivers are still reading the red arrow and may enter on a green they expect, or creep forward assuming you are stopped.
- Do not treat the wave as permission to speed or to cut across the taxi's lane; it only resolves the conflict between the signal and the officer.
- Once the officer leaves, the sign and signal resume full control - the officer's wave did not repeal the posted restriction.