QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT YOUR COMMUTE : Right, Left and Right of Way Etiquette

Dear Traffic Talk:

I know the old adage that one is not to insist on one’s right of way--one could end up “dead right.” With that in mind, this question may seem to be splitting hairs, but for my own peace of mind, I’d like to know the correct approach to the following:

Let’s say that I am at a four-way stop and I want to turn right onto a street that is two-way and has three lanes in both directions. Let’s also say that there is a driver stopped on the other side of the intersection who wants to turn left onto the same street that I want to turn right onto.

Do I have the right of way to turn into any lane I please, or am I to restrict myself to only the right-most lane? I always thought that the person turning right had the right of way. At the rate that people seem to push off from that left-turn position, I’m beginning to think I’m wrong.

Susan E. Krzywicki

Studio City

Dear Susan:

William Madison, spokesman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles, said that when two cars are stopped at an intersection in a situation such as you describe, the driver who wants to make a right turn has the right of way over the driver who wants to make a left turn. However, the right-turn driver should turn into the right-most lane first, changing lanes only when it is safe.

“Never insist on taking the right of way, even if you know you are right,” Madison said. But then, you already knew that.

Dear Traffic Talk:

I’m writing about the Vanalden Avenue on-ramp to the Ventura Freeway, located in Tarzana. The on-ramp allows you to go from Ventura Boulevard to the eastbound Ventura Freeway. The on-ramp starts off as two lanes and then very rapidly merges into one lane.

However, a sign at the traffic signal states that one car per each lane may enter the freeway. My question is, does the on-ramp have one lane all the way on, or two lanes all the way on? This is confusing, and I would appreciate your looking into it and letting your readers know.

Burton Sokoloff

Tarzana

Dear Burton:

According to Russell Snyder, spokesman for Caltrans, cars on the Vanalden on-ramp should merge into one lane before entering the freeway. Snyder said that practically all of Los Angeles’ on-ramps are one lane, with the exception of a few “really big, wide ramps.”

Dear Traffic Talk:

I just wanted to make a suggestion to the powers-that-be about street signs. Often, when I am crossing a freeway over-pass I will see a sign that indicates with an arrow pointing right that the entrance to the freeway going west, let’s say, is on the right.

The same sign indicates with a straight-ahead arrow that the motorist should go straight ahead to enter the eastbound freeway. But drivers have no way of knowing whether they should bear to the right or left.

I suggest enhancing the signs with a simple dot, three to four inches in diameter, between the straight-ahead arrow and the word “east.” One of the best features of this idea is that it can be introduced slowly, at minimum cost, and at no risk to drivers who don’t know what it means.

A. Richard Rabin

North Hollywood