Q: I’m new to Washington State and I’m curious about left turns at lights with no protected signal. When turning right onto a multi-lane road, I know that I must enter the lane closest to me. When turning left on a green light, I must also pull into the lane nearest me. So when two cars are turning onto the same multi-lane street from opposite directions, we both have the right of way into our own lane, correct?
A: Welcome to Washington! I might be biased, but I think it’s pretty amazing here. Lots of other people, possibly including you, agree with me, which sometimes leads to folks who have recently moved here questioning traffic rules they thought they knew. This is just a guess: Either you come from a state where the rules are as you described in your question and when you encountered this scenario here it didn’t play out as expected, or you came from a state where the rules were different and now you’re trying to figure out how to apply the new rules.
Normally I quote the Revised Code of Washington when explaining traffic law, since it’s the official source, but I have to say, the part about left turns is just too confusing to make sense of in a short column. Instead, let’s take a look at what the Washington Driver Guide has to say: “Turn from the lane that is closest to the direction you want to go and turn into the lane closest to the one you came from.” That’s just like what you described in your question.
I don’t typically address traffic laws from other states, but I’m making an exception because in this instance it’s relevant. Californians move here in higher numbers than any other state, and the rules there don’t quite line up with Washington’s rules. According to California’s Driver Handbook, the setup for making a turn is the same as in Washington, but you can turn into any lane when there are multiple lanes going the same direction. (Crazy, I know.)
What happens when you have two people at the same intersection operating from two different sets of rules? When you’re in your motorized cage, driving sometimes feels like a solitary activity. Events like two drivers each thinking that they belong in the same lane, in the same spot, at the same time remind us that it’s a notably collective endeavor.
When two drivers turn onto the same multi-lane street from opposite directions, yes, in Washington they should both be able to complete the turn in their own lanes, trouble-free, like two choreographed dancers. But there’s the law, and there’s how humans behave in the wild. The overarching goal of driving is getting safely to your destination. Beyond the specific law addressed by this question, there’s a theme that’s repeated several times in our traffic law: “the duty of all persons to use due care.” It’s not enough to follow specific rules about proper turning lanes, or speed limits, or traffic signals. We also need to watch out for each other and be ready to respond to unexpected situations.
If you’re in circumstances like the one posed here and you’re the driver turning left, there may be some additional expectations for you. There’s a law that says a driver turning left “shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction” if it’s close enough to constitute a hazard. That’s typically understood to apply to oncoming traffic but, at the very least, it’s a good reminder that left turns have increased risk that drivers should consider.