This morning I stopped at a yield sign waiting to turn right onto a busy road with 3 lanes in each direction. Cars were oncoming fast in the left and center lanes, but not in the right. I began to pull out into the right land. Just then, a car in the center lane began to go into the right lane without signaling. He was moving fast - about 40mph. He honked and I stopped fast, avoiding a collision. Who is at fault?
While state laws may vary, it is generally illegal to make the turn when there are on-coming cars, even if they are not in the lane you are turning into. Since there was no collision, there is no issue of fault. But had there been, you'd have been at fault. If you had made that turn (instead of stopping) you'd have broken the law. The other driver also broke the law by failing to signal the lane change. But he still had the right of way.
Daniel, Thanks for that. You may be right. I always assumed that you could turn into a lane if that lane was clear. The other driver did fail to signal the lane change, and was also speeding (40mph in a 30mph zone). Anyway, in future I will not turn if any cars are coming in any lane.
"it is generally illegal to make the turn when there are on-coming cars, even if they are not in the lane you are turning into" Is this true? Are there any driving instructors or police out there who would know this? I would think that if you look and the right lane is clear, you should be able to turn into it. If a person in the center lane suddenly changes lanes without signaling, isn't he making an error? Anyone have more concrete information on this?
That is an interesting question that I do not know the right answer to. I turn right at a stop sign out of my neighborhood in to a busy thoroughfare with two lanes in either direction. I also turn in to the right hand lane with the far left lane oncoming traffic. If I had to wait for both lanes to clear it would take forever to get out of my neighborhood. I have to be very careful to watch for cars in the left lane making sudden changes to the right lane. If anyone does know what the law says about this I would like to know, also. Especially someone from NC in case we are different.
Glad I'm not the only one to wonder about this. I've been driving for 35 years and never had an accident, but I would like to know what the law is on this, especially in New York, but other places as well. Maybe we could all learn something. Luckily, I did stop in time. Had there been an accident, I would suspect that the oncoming driver would be at fault for 1. failure to signal lane change, and 2. Speeding. I might be at fault for making a right turn when it was not safe to do so.
What I was taught in drivers ed was to never change lanes near an intersection or where there is traffic merging and ALWAYS signal before and during the turn. Not that flicker once and weave in and out of traffic crap. But when does the average driver follow what they was taught? I don't know about the laws but I'm pretty signaling when changing lanes is one of them.
He is at fault. I'm not going to look it up, but I'm pretty certain it is not illegal to turn onto a multi-lane road into the nearest lane when it is clear, regardless of the other lanes. Just think about the logistics of this on various stretches of road in the tri-state area. It would be impossible to turn out of any shopping center.
Traffic on a road has the right to use *all* of the lanes. When you pull out into an open lane with traffic coming in other lanes, you take your chances that they will stay in their lane. If they don't, it's your fault. There are some exceptions, in areas where traffic is not allowed to change lanes, but in that case the lanes are clearly marked with solid lines. In this case the blame might be split, since the driver failed to signal, but that would be your word against his. The fact that you pulled out into traffic would be indisputable. Tom
I'm surprised there's not a solid line for the approaching cars to stop that from happening. I know it's not the same thing, but freeway entrances do not allow traffic to change lanes into the merging lane. If there's no traffic law stating you can not merge with traffic in any lane, the state might be the ones at fault.
My best guess is this. It is legal to pull out into the right lane if the lane is clear, but if you get hit, then the lane was self evidently not clear, you have failed to yield and are at fault. Even though the lane was clear at the instant you looked, the other driver suddenly changed lanes and it was then not clear. The other driver would be at fault for failing to signal and speeding but both of these would be impossible to prove. So I would be screwed. Lesson - be very very careful pulling out into what seems to be a clear lane.
I just checked the official DMV booklet for Minnesota. For Yield signs, it says: "Slow down or stop, if necessary. Give the right of way to all other vehicles and pedestrians, and wait until it is safe to proceed." (Chapter 5, page 49) In this case, the person turning would be at fault if an accident occurred - they did not give the right of way to all other vehicles and wait until it was safe to proceed. Be careful there Tom... a single solid white line, according to the MN DMV, means: "A solid white line indicates that lane changes are discouraged in areas where this type of marking is present. Solid white lines also mark crosswalks, stop lines at intersections, parking stalls, and the edges of a roadway." (Chapter 5, page 62) Double solid white lines indicate that it is illegal to change lanes. This is less a question of merging as it is of turning - he was making a right turn. As far as the MN DMV goes, a right turn is described as being curb-lane to curb-lane. They even draw nice little pictures in Chapter 3, page 25-26. The only time a right turn is NOT curb-lane to curb-lane is when there are multiple turn lanes. For anyone interested, the MN DMV has their driving booklet online in PDF format by chapter, available here: Driver and Vehicle Services - Minnesota Driver's Manual Yes, laws are different between different states - My responses above may not hold true for other states. However, I've now passed driving tests in 3 different states, and as far as these laws go they were all the same.
Agreed. That's even more important. And I know I speak for everyone here when I say we are glad of that.
Similar in Michigan. In Michigan it is illegal to cross a single white line on the side of the road, while it is not recommended to cross a single white line separating moving traffic. So as you have pointed out, crossing the single white line to change lanes would not be illegal, just not recommended. I learn something new every day. Tom
Here is the traffic law in Michigan which controls pulling onto a road: Note that no mention is made of open lanes or anything of that nature. Tom
I looked this up in the NC DMV Driver's Handbook: Right of way at intersectionsWhen you approach an intersection with a stop sign, you must come to a complete stop and yield to the traffic on the through-street. Do notmove ahead or turn until you can proceed safely. Like qbee42 says about Michigan, it does not say anything about lanes or anything else. I also have learned something new today. I have pulling out of our neighborhood for 30 years now and never realized that I would be at fault if someone suddenly changed lanes resulting in an accident. I did know I was responsible for merging with existing traffic and that they always had the right of way. But I never thought about someone suddenly changing lanes on me.
