I’m seeing too many drivers cut corners when they turn left. Instead of slowing down and making a proper turn that’s closer to 90 degrees, they start turning way too early and cut into the oncoming lane of the street they’re turning into. At a red light this week, I was stopping just before the stop line when a driver turning left on the green light swung into my lane. He came within an inch of hitting me. Is there a law against turning like that? Am I the only driver who knows how to turn left anymore? – Barbara, Ottawa
There’s no safe way to rush a left turn, driving experts say.
“If you’re clipping a left turn, most often it’s because you’re going way too fast,” said Angelo DiCicco, chief executive officer of the Ontario Safety League, a non-profit focusing on driver education. “Most left-hand turns should be executed at five to 15 kilometres an hour.”
An intersection is no place for shortcuts. You shouldn’t start your turn until the front of your car is at the edge of the road you’re turning into and “aim around the centre line,” DiCicco said.
That requires slowing down a lot more than most drivers think – ideally to a rolling stop on most residential streets, DiCicco said.
“If you start the turn too early, you’re cheating,” he said. “You end up cutting into their lane because you’re in a hurry.”
That means you shouldn’t rush a turn if, for instance, there’s not a big enough gap in oncoming traffic to make it safely.
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Usually, you’ll also need to use both hands to turn properly, he said.
“You can’t be holding your cell phone or trying to drink the last few drops of your cup of coffee,” DiCicco said.
Crossing the line?
In Ontario, the law states you must start the turn in your lane and end it in the lane you’re turning into.
If you cut the corner and cross into the oncoming lane on the street, you could be charged with making an improper turn – and face an $85 fine ($120 in a community safety zone) and two demerits, said Sean Shapiro, a driving safety expert and former traffic cop.
That law also applies when you’re turning left onto a street with more than one lane. You’re supposed to turn into the leftmost lane, but if you turn too wide and end up in the middle or far right lane, for instance, you could be charged, Shapiro said.
If there’s more than one turning lane, you should complete your turn in the lane you started from. So, if you started your turn from the middle turning lane, you should turn into the middle lane, he said.
Some cities have added painted lines across intersections that show where to turn but even without them, the rules are the same.
“We never used to need those lines,” DiCicco said. “But now we do because most drivers don’t think about the [geometry] of a turn.”
While the rules vary by province, generally they’re similar.
Turn for the worse?
Many drivers get into the habit of making sloppy left turns – either too tight or too wide – because they keep getting away with it without causing a crash or getting a ticket, said road safety expert Tim Danter.
But you shouldn’t make a left turn where you’re counting on another driver to see you in time to slow down or stop – for instance, if you veer into their lane because you turned too tightly, he said.
“We get away with things until we don’t,” Danter said.
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