Q: Does a company that requires a right turn only out of its driveway or parking lot onto a public road need a permit to put up said sign? I feel like I’m being discriminated against because I live in the opposite direction of the majority of the employees.
A: Right about now all the people who have actually experienced discrimination because of their race, gender, age, or sexual orientation are playing the world’s smallest violins for you. Right-turn-only signs on private property are not a form of discrimination. The real purpose is less insidious and more practical.
If your boss was the person who independently decided to put up a right-turn-only sign, that would be illegal. The law prohibits installing any unauthorized sign that looks like the real deal or attempts to direct the movement of traffic. But I don’t think that’s what happened.
There’s a grocery store I frequent, and until recently I could make a left turn out of the parking lot. As development in the area expanded, it became increasingly difficult, and risky, to make that left turn. Once the giant box store went in across the street, left turns were no longer an option. A right-turn-only sign was installed at the exit of the parking lot. And to make sure it’s obeyed there is now a curb preventing drivers from crossing into the left-bound lane. As I write that I wonder, “Is left-bound a word?” Either way, I think you understand what I mean.
The grocery store manager didn’t choose to prohibit left turns. That decision was made by a traffic engineer. When developers propose projects that impact existing transportation infrastructure, the permit process includes a review of the roadway situation to see if the increased traffic will require modifications. Sometimes those modifications include changes to publicly accessible property that’s privately owned, like a grocery store or your place of employment.
Can the government tell a private person or company to install a traffic control device on their property? Yes, they can, at least in some instances. As stated in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (it’s like the Bible for road signs but longer than the actual Bible) the rules for road signs apply to all roadways open to public travel, independent of whether it is public or private property.
Local ordinances may also spell it out more clearly. As an example, Bellevue’s municipal code states, “Left turns to and from a private road may be restricted either at the time of development or in the future if such maneuvers are found by the city to be hazardous.” Your city probably has something similar.
And while we’re on the topic of left turns, we should probably try to avoid them when we can. A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in crashes where crossing or turning in an intersection was a factor, 62 percent of crashes involved a left turning driver, while only three percent involved a right turning driver. That’s 20 times more left than right-turn crashes in intersections.
Even if avoiding left turns is impractical for your route, it’s good to keep in mind the additional risk involved in making those turns. The number one error in left turn crashes is “inadequate surveillance,” or for normal human speakers, not paying attention. It’s not because those drivers had great observational skills but let their guard down in the intersection. Instead, their habitually inadequate surveillance showed itself in a critical situation. By practicing good situational awareness whenever you’re driving, it’ll be there for you when you need it most.