Text Signs Where A MUTCD Symbol Sign Would Suffice

[mrsman]

Why the need for a sign? If it had been a protected turn there would've been a green arrow instead of a green circle in the traffic light, right?

Right, yes. The problem is that, unlike most countries, most Americans don't understand general rules of the road. I know that sounds a bit brash, but it's true. People see green and automatically assume the right-of-way is theirs. That's why roundabouts have worked so well (people don't have a signal controlling their movement so they have to actually look up from their phones to make sure they don't wreck). People take a green light far too literally (a common saying here is "green means go", despite only being true for through-movements).

And sometimes it may come to deal with the opposite problem, Americans being too cautious and not turning, even when they have the right to make the turn.  There are many times when I'm making a left at a doghouse and the guy in front of me doesn't make the left turn, even though opposing traffic is clear.  Some people think that if there was a green arrow, and now the green arrow is off, you are not allowed to turn left without the green arrow.  So in such cases, a sign like this is helpful.  yes, you are allowed to make this left on green ball, but you must yield to opposing traffic.

Of course, as you said, this sign actually verbalizes a basic rule of the road that as far as I'm aware, is true in all 50 states.  You may turn left on green ball (even in interesection where there is a green arrow phase) so long as you yield to opposing traffic and there is no red left arrow or sign that says left turn on green arrow only.

A similar sign that is sometimes posted, but totally unnecessary because it's a basic rule of the road* is "right turn on red after stop"

* Except in NYC.  Since there is a citywide ban on right on red there, these signs are necessary to mark the exceptions.

[Ace10]

Why the need for a sign? If it had been a protected turn there would've been a green arrow instead of a green circle in the traffic light, right?

Right, yes. The problem is that, unlike most countries, most Americans don't understand general rules of the road. I know that sounds a bit brash, but it's true. People see green and automatically assume the right-of-way is theirs. That's why roundabouts have worked so well (people don't have a signal controlling their movement so they have to actually look up from their phones to make sure they don't wreck). People take a green light far too literally (a common saying here is "green means go", despite only being true for through-movements).

And sometimes it may come to deal with the opposite problem, Americans being too cautious and not turning, even when they have the right to make the turn.  There are many times when I'm making a left at a doghouse and the guy in front of me doesn't make the left turn, even though opposing traffic is clear.  Some people think that if there was a green arrow, and now the green arrow is off, you are not allowed to turn left without the green arrow.  So in such cases, a sign like this is helpful.  yes, you are allowed to make this left on green ball, but you must yield to opposing traffic.

Of course, as you said, this sign actually verbalizes a basic rule of the road that as far as I'm aware, is true in all 50 states.  You may turn left on green ball (even in interesection where there is a green arrow phase) so long as you yield to opposing traffic and there is no red left arrow or sign that says left turn on green arrow only.

A similar sign that is sometimes posted, but totally unnecessary because it's a basic rule of the road* is "right turn on red after stop"

* Except in NYC.  Since there is a citywide ban on right on red there, these signs are necessary to mark the exceptions.

There are also places you can make a left on circular red or red arrow onto a one-way street or freeway onramp, even from a two-way street - Oregon and Washington being two of those places. I didn't know about it until I read up on the actual traffic laws. It would probably be too expensive to do so, but it would be nice if ODOT and WSDOT put up signs saying something to the effect of "Left Turn Yield on Red After Stop".

[Kacie Jane]

There are also places you can make a left on circular red or red arrow onto a one-way street or freeway onramp, even from a two-way street - Oregon and Washington being two of those places. I didn't know about it until I read up on the actual traffic laws. It would probably be too expensive to do so, but it would be nice if ODOT and WSDOT put up signs saying something to the effect of "Left Turn Yield on Red After Stop".

There's a sign with similar text at the I-405 SB off-ramp at NE 6th Street: "Right Turn On Red Arrow After Stop".  For people who don't realize that in Washington, a red arrow does not automatically mean No Turn On Red.

[jakeroot]

There are also places you can make a left on circular red or red arrow onto a one-way street or freeway onramp, even from a two-way street - Oregon and Washington being two of those places. I didn't know about it until I read up on the actual traffic laws. It would probably be too expensive to do so, but it would be nice if ODOT and WSDOT put up signs saying something to the effect of "Left Turn Yield on Red After Stop".

There's a sign with similar text at the I-405 SB off-ramp at NE 6th Street: "Right Turn On Red Arrow After Stop".  For people who don't realize that in Washington, a red arrow does not automatically mean No Turn On Red.

Same law in British Columbia as well. Best part is, none of the locations specify a maximum amount of lanes before you are no longer allowed to turn on red. So technically, places like this and this are legal left-turn on red locations (and both locations at which I have performed said maneuver).

[NE2]

This is what overreliance on symbols gets you:


It's unambiguously legal to turn on red here.

[talllguy]

Here's a better example of the thread title-sake:


No Left Turn by Elliott Plack, on Flickr

As opposed to:

[mrsman]

It seems like the sign came in before the international symbols were widely used.  And Baltimore never updated their signs.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[cpzilliacus]

It seems like the sign came in before the international symbols were widely used.  And Baltimore never updated their signs.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Baltimore City has plenty of vintage sign infrastructure left on its arterial  street network.