Left-Turn Arrow Isn’t a Green Light to Hog Two Lanes

Dear Street Smart:

When making a left turn from a single left-turn lane, I usually swing wide to end up in the right lane of the street I’m turning onto. The problem is that aggressive drivers in opposing traffic will, on their red light, try to turn right into the same lane at the same time. I would assume that I have the right of way, since I have a green arrow and they have a red light.

Is there a rule that dictates which lane a driver must be in when finishing a left turn?

Roger Engelder

Foothill Ranch

There is, and you’re not following it.

According to Steve Kohler, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, the California Vehicle Code requires drivers making left turns to end up in the lane corresponding to the one from which they turn. In other words, if you are turning from the lane closest to the center of the road then that’s the one in which you must end.

The reason for the law is obvious, he says: “The whole point of having multilane roads is to allow the best traffic flow possible. If you take up all of the lanes of the road you’re turning into, you prevent other people from utilizing the same roadway.”

By turning left into the farthest lane, Kohler said, you risk getting a ticket for unsafe lane changes, as well as causing an accident involving another driver making a (legal) right turn against a red light.

Dear Street Smart:

I have a simple question for you. We drive a motor home and want to know, with two or more occupants, may we use the Diamond Lane and/or the Fastrak lanes on the freeway?

Angelo Ragusa

Irvine

Yes.

You can drive in the carpool lane if your vehicle has no more than two axles and can go the legal speed limit, Kohler said.

One other thing: At least one Orange County carpool lane--on the 91 Express Lanes--requires three occupants in each car instead of two.

Dear Street Smart:

What are the buildings that are being built at the interchange of the Costa Mesa and Corona del Mar freeways? I don’t recall having seen any buildings under freeway overpasses in the past.

Doug Bennett

Tustin

What you are witnessing is the construction of a new Caltrans maintenance station to replace the one closed in Irvine due to the construction of the San Joaquin Hills tollway.

The new buildings, on 5.3 acres at the southeast quadrant of the freeway interchange, will house 52 workers in an area currently served by crews located in Huntington Beach and San Juan Capistrano. In addition, there will be an equipment wash rack and bins for concrete material and trash.

Maureena Duran-Rojas, a Caltrans spokeswoman, said the facility will help the agency provide better service to all areas, since crews will be closer to their work.

The new maintenance station is expected to be completed late this year at a cost of about $4 million.