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Traffic Question - Is this legal?

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Kelemvor

Kelemvor

Lifer
Here's a pic.
U-turn.JPG

There is currently some construction going on where I get on the freeway every day. In the map, I come from the north (top) and go east (right) on the freeway. However that on ramp is closed now and only accessible from the south.

At the intersection immediately south of the freeway there is a No U-Turn sign. It's NOT a controlled intersection (no stop sign, stop lights, etc).

The building on the left is a furniture store and on the right is a park & ride by the road as well as some small businsesses further back.

What a lot of us have started doing is simply turning into the park and ride area and immediately turning around and getting back on the road heading north (green line).

However the other day a police officer was sitting in that lot so I decided to go to the left side of the pic and turn around there (blue line).

I'm not sure if either of these is legal or not since it's a way to get around the posted no U-Turn sign in the road but thought I'd ask in case any cops or others with knowledge of traffic laws was around.

Thanks.
 
I don't see why it wouldn't be legal, as the point of the no-u-turn sign is probably to keep that main road safe from obstructions / slow-turning vehicles and you're not part of that problem just making a left. And there is no law that requires you to stay and use a public / private lot when you enter it.

On the same token though, I know cutting through corner gas stations is a big no-no. I've seen signs where they say you will be ticketed. There's a bank on a corner around here and people cut through that all the time as the light is stupid long yielding to a major road... I wonder if they can legally do anything, just like I wonder about the gas station.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
I don't see why it wouldn't be legal, as the point of the no-u-turn sign is probably to keep that main road safe from obstructions / slow-turning vehicles and you're not part of that problem just making a left.
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I think it's just an extension of pulling through a corner gas station to avoid sitting at a light. That's illegal, so I don't know why this wouldn't be.
 
Originally posted by: rh71
On the same token though, I know cutting through corner gas stations is a big no-no. I've seen signs where they say you will be ticketed. There's a bank on a corner around here and people cut through that all the time as the light is stupid long yielding to a major road... I wonder if they can legally do anything, just like I wonder about the gas station.
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Yeah, that's the thing I was thinking of is that this is sort of the same thing but not really...
 
Originally posted by: nace186
sure, why not?
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I agree. We had a similar situation here where the on-ramp to the freeway going East was closed due to construction for those heading southbound. They wanted southbound traffic to get on the freeway heading West, exit at the next exit (1 1/2 miles up the road) turn and then get back on the freeway heading East.

We all just turned around in side streets and parking lots. There was a gas station, but everyone knew better than to turn around there. We then used the on-ramp for northbound traffic and headed East.

The cops were there some mornings and they had no issues with it.

They did have an issue with me the morning I decided to say screw it to the turning around and made the illegal left turn onto the on-ramp for northbound traffic. A cop appeared out of nowhere the second I did it. I got pulled over. I admitted to my error and the cop said that because of that and the fact that I had a clean record he'd let me go on my way with no ticket and just a warning. Yay!
 
Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Just pull into the park and ride, actually park your car, get out, then get back in and go. If you're worried that is.
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Yeah you could totally just get out of the car, look at your tires, get back in your car and drive off. If you did get pulled over you would have an excuse.
 
I'm sure he could find something to give you a ticket for, so I wouldn't do it while the cop is there. If the cop wasn't there and traffic was light I'd just make the U-turn. No U-turn signs are for people who suck at driving, and I don't suck at driving.
 
You can do any type of turn still as long as it's not a U turn. Turning into a place of business in order to head the other way is considered legal.

It's not the same as cutting through to avoid a redlight.
 
Originally posted by: alkemyst
It's not the same as cutting through to avoid a redlight.
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I do that every morning at the same light. 😱

But it's more of a cut through parking lot, go behind building, come out of other side of parking lot move.



 
Originally posted by: SonnyDaze
Originally posted by: alkemyst
It's not the same as cutting through to avoid a redlight.
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I do that every morning at the same light. 😱

But it's more of a cut through parking lot, go behind building, come out of other side of parking lot move.
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hope you aren't doing it at 30-40mph through a parking lot.
 
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