Cars turn left from Bathurst St. to St. Clair Avenue during an advanced green light. Experts say even if you are in a turning lane and your only option is to turn, you should still signal.Jordan Chittley/The Globe and Mail
In a left-turning lane with a green arrow, do I still need to signal? It seems unnecessary when everyone in the lane is turning. And if there are two left-turning lanes, could signalling left from the centre turning lane make drivers beside me think I’m trying to change lanes? Would it be less confusing to everybody to just not signal? – Murray, Calgary
You should signal anytime you turn – even if turning is your only possible move.
“Whenever changing lanes or turning, you are required to signal your intent,” Corporal Troy Savinkoff, an Alberta RCMP spokesman, said in an email. “If you don’t, legally you could get a ticket.”
In Alberta, the law states you have to signal every turn – and there’s no exception for dedicated turning lanes.
While rules vary by province, we couldn’t find any that state you don’t have to signal when in a turning lane.
Some dedicated turning lanes allow turning on a green light as long as you yield to oncoming traffic, while many also have an advance green (the green arrow) that gives you the right of way over oncoming vehicles.
Even if you have the green arrow, your signal matters, said Gere Solomon Woldu, a driving instructor with the Alberta Motor Association.
“It’s communication,” Woldu said. “You’re telling everyone around you what you are planning to do.”
While you might know you’re in a turning lane, don’t expect everyone else to, Savinkoff said.
“Oncoming traffic and pedestrians do not have the same signage telling them what lane you are in,” he said. “They don’t necessarily know your intent unless you signal.”
For instance, a driver might be turning right on a red light and not realize you’re turning left into the same lane because you’re not signalling.
Signals crossed?
When there are two left-turning lanes and you’re in the middle one, could your left signal make drivers around you think you’re moving into the other lane?
Woldu doesn’t think so. Generally, drivers around you should know that when you signal in a turning lane, it means you’re turning, he said. There’s often a solid line dividing the two turning lanes just before the intersection, “so you shouldn’t be changing lanes then,” Woldu said.
If you need to switch turning lanes, you should be doing it before the line turns solid – and only if that lane is clear. But it’s safer to choose your lane as early as you can, he said.
“You have the choice to be in the inside lane or the outside lane,” Woldu said. “Once you make that decision, stick with that.”
While other drivers shouldn’t be confused, your car might be. If your car has blind spot detection and you turn on your left signal in the centre turning lane, it might think you’re trying to move into the leftmost lane. You might get a loud warning that the left lane is occupied as you turn – but you should still keep signalling, Savinkoff said. Once you start your turn, you shouldn’t ever be switching lanes. You should finish in the same lane you started in.
“You are not legally allowed to switch lanes while in an intersection,” Savinkoff said. “So [confusing other drivers] really shouldn’t be a concern.”
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