Questioning the legality...

[pianocello]

So I'm turning left from NWBound Northwest Blvd to SB Pine St in Davenport here. I'm right behind a bus who needed to turn right immediately on 63rd St (the E-W street at the bottom of the link). There's a car coming down the "ramp" that goes from SEBd Northwest to SBd Pine, so I would expect the bus to get to the right lane using the driveway that I placed the arrow on. Instead, the bus decides to stop and wait for the car. Since I need to make a right turn at the next street from Pine, I'm tempted to use the driveway to get into the right lane and pass the bus, but I decided against it. Would this be legal?

[agentsteel53]

you have a license at age 15.  you can apparently do what you want!

[NE2]

If you're talking about cutting through a parking lot to bypass a light, Iowa doesn't seem to have the law that some states have about this: "No person shall drive any vehicle from a roadway to another roadway to avoid obeying the indicated traffic control indicated by such traffic control device." But it might have something else. And of course the owner of the parking lot might complain.

[Takumi]

you have a license at age 15.  you can apparently do what you want!

Could be a learner's permit.

[Brandon]

I would recommend not doing so due to the lack of distance between the street stub there (it's not really a private drive from the looks of it) and 63rd Street.  Better to be courteous.

[realjd]

Why would the bus turn down that driveway?

Legal or not, you know that the bus is turning right; zooming around him on the right is a dick move.

[Alps]

It looks like a legal street as opposed to a driveway, so my answer would be yes, technically legal. Although a cop might stop you anyway for doing it, I don't think he could issue a ticket for anything.

[Duke87]

What I'm trying to picture is how there would be any benefit to doing what you propose. By the time you slow down to turn right then left, the car the bus stopped for is passed and the bus is moving again, so you don't come out ahead. And, expecting the bus to make those two quick turns is silly. He did it the logical way.

[NE2]

Oh, I missed the link. I don't see why it wouldn't be legal. Pointless, perhaps, but not illegal.

[hbelkins]

If you're talking about cutting through a parking lot to bypass a light, Iowa doesn't seem to have the law that some states have about this: "No person shall drive any vehicle from a roadway to another roadway to avoid obeying the indicated traffic control indicated by such traffic control device." But it might have something else. And of course the owner of the parking lot might complain.

There are laws like that on the books? More proof that the apocalypse is upon us.

I am known to frequently cut through parking lots to get around long lines at signals.

[1995hoo]

If you're talking about cutting through a parking lot to bypass a light, Iowa doesn't seem to have the law that some states have about this: "No person shall drive any vehicle from a roadway to another roadway to avoid obeying the indicated traffic control indicated by such traffic control device." But it might have something else. And of course the owner of the parking lot might complain.

There are laws like that on the books? More proof that the apocalypse is upon us.

I am known to frequently cut through parking lots to get around long lines at signals.

Virginia has a similar law codified at Va. Code 46.2-833.1:

It shall be unlawful for the driver of any motor vehicle to drive off the roadway and onto or across any public or private property in order to evade any stop sign, yield sign, traffic light, or other traffic control device.

I've heard it referred to as the "Esso Asso law," although that term has become a lot less common because the name "Esso" is largely forgotten in the United States. There are a few gas stations near where I live that have signs posted to remind people that it's illegal to do this. I've never seen anyone ticketed for it, but on the whole I don't see all that many people doing it either. (I could make an observation about what state the people I see doing it are from, or what race they tend to be, but I think it would be best if I refrained.)

I think the real motivation for the law is safety, to try to stop people from cutting through gas stations and the like at high speed. For example, take a look at this view of an intersection a couple of miles from my house. The Shell station on the right (where the big yellow Penske truck is) is the one where I most often see people pull this move. People driving north on Van Dorn Street (the street running vertically through the image) who want to turn right onto Edsall Road (the street running across the image) sometimes approach the red light, see someone stopped so they can't go right on red, and cut to the right to bomb through the gas station without slowing down. That's really rather dangerous and there are good reasons for discouraging it. (Incidentally, the Exxon station across Van Dorn Street to the left is one that has a "No Thru Traffic" sign posted, although it's small and easily missed.)

[kphoger]

Although a cop might stop you anyway for doing it, I don't think he could issue a ticket for anything.

Ummm....cops can issue tickets for whatever they want.  Doesn't mean you can't fight it and win, though.

[agentsteel53]

Ummm....cops can issue tickets for whatever they want.  Doesn't mean you can't fight it and win, though.

if one is from the other side of the country, the cost to show up back in court a month later to mount a defense is far greater than the cost of the ticket, especially if opportunity cost/value of one's time is thrown in.

cops know the fuck out of this.

[kphoger]

Ummm....cops can issue tickets for whatever they want.  Doesn't mean you can't fight it and win, though.

if one is from the other side of the country, the cost to show up back in court a month later to mount a defense is far greater than the cost of the ticket, especially if opportunity cost/value of one's time is thrown in.

cops know the fuck out of this.

Fully understood.  Just ask any long-term hitchhiker.  I didn't say 'doesn't mean it's not easy', just said 'doesn't mean you can't'.

[agentsteel53]

hell, in Massachusetts they charge you a $265 court fee just to be admitted to the docket.

if you're found not guilty ... they keep the $265 anyway.