A driver from Rutland e-mailed with a concern regarding the intersection of Nickel Road and Highway 33. Highway 33 is five lanes wide with a two way left turn lane in the middle and Nickel Road is a two lane residential street. She regularly stops and waits to turn left off of Highway 33 onto Nickel Road and is horrified when through traffic on the highway stops to allow her to make the turn.
She was involved in a crash in this intersection, one of sixteen between 2017 and 2021, when an oncoming driver stopped and waved for her to complete her turn. A driver in the lane beside the polite motorist failed to yield the right of way and struck her.
She raises two issues, the danger to left turn drivers in this situation and also the risk to the drivers who yield being struck from behind.
It’s always dangerous when you turn left in an intersection. You usually have to cross over opposing lanes of traffic which leaves you vulnerable in a crash. It also exposes you to drivers who would never think that they might have to yield and let you turn left.
The rule in B.C. for turning left at an intersection requires that you yield to any opposing traffic in or approaching the intersection so closely that it would be an immediate hazard. Once you have done this, opposing traffic must now yield to you and allow you to make your left turn.
Never, ever expect the opposing drivers to follow this rule, even if you are at an intersection controlled by traffic lights that have turned yellow. In fact, this may be one of the more dangerous times to try and turn. Drivers wanting to get through before the red may not be watching for you.
The tendency of most drivers is simply to carry on if there is an empty lane in front of them. Little or no thought is given to why that vehicle ahead is slowing down or stopped. Many pedestrians and drivers trying to turn have found this out the hard way.
Even if you have the right of way, do not proceed until it is safe to carry out the movement! If you can’t see, you can’t go.
If you are at an intersection with traffic lights, it would be far safer to wait for them to turn red and have all the opposing traffic to stop before making your turn. In this situation you have right of way over cross traffic facing the green light to do so.
This assumes that you have properly entered the intersection on the green light to prepare for the turn.
Story URL: https://www.drivesmartbc.ca/intersections/yielding-left-turns
-- Tim Schewe Road Safety Advocate DriveSmartBC.ca
