The 4:45 PM Left Turn on a One-Way Grid
You are driving a friend’s car in downtown Columbus on a weekday at 4:45 PM. You need to turn left onto Vine Street from a one-way northbound street. At the intersection, a white rectangular sign reads “NO LEFT TURN 4–6 PM MON–FRI,” with a smaller plate below reading “EXCEPT BUSES.” The leftmost lane has a white left-turn arrow painted in it and a diamond symbol with “BUS ONLY” text; the lane to its right has a straight-ahead arrow. A green traffic signal is showing, and a city bus is waiting behind you in the left lane. Your passenger says the restriction only applies to buses. Your car has out-of-state plates, you are not a bus, and you have never driven this grid before. Traffic is moderate.
1. At 4:45 PM, does the no-left-turn restriction apply to your car? Explain using the sign’s color, shape, and plates, and address your passenger’s claim.
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The restriction applies. The sign is white and rectangular, which in Ohio marks a regulatory control, not a warning or guide. The main plate states the prohibition and the time window; 4:45 PM falls inside 4–6 PM on a weekday. The smaller “EXCEPT BUSES” plate creates a narrow exception: it allows buses, not all traffic. Your passenger has inverted the exception. Out-of-state plates do not exempt a nonresident, and the green signal does not cancel a regulatory sign. Therefore you may not legally turn left at this intersection during that window unless you are operating a bus.
2. What do the left-turn arrow and the BUS ONLY diamond in the leftmost lane mean for you, and where should you position the car?
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The arrow identifies the movement served by that lane, while the diamond and BUS ONLY legend restrict the lane to buses. Read together, they mean the lane is not a general left-turn lane for your car; it is a bus lane whose buses may turn left. The straight-ahead arrow in the adjacent lane is your lane. Do not enter the bus-only lane to queue for a turn you cannot legally make; position in the lane with the straight arrow and proceed through or use a different legal route to reach Vine Street. If you needed a legal left turn, you would look for a general left-turn lane and a sign that permits the movement, not a bus-only lane.
3. The signal turns green while you are still approaching. What does the green light authorize, and how do the sign and markings limit that authorization?
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A green light authorizes you to proceed through the intersection with right-of-way for permitted movements, but it does not create a new turn permission or override a regulatory sign. The no-left-turn plate and the bus-only lane remain in force. Your permitted movement from the straight-ahead lane is to go straight, subject to yielding to pedestrians and to traffic already lawfully in the intersection. If you wanted to turn left, the green light would not make it legal at 4:45 PM; you would need to wait until the restriction ends or choose another route. The key is that signal indications and signs operate together: the most restrictive applicable control governs.