WTF....why would anyone try to turn left like this?

[1995hoo]

This letter appeared in the Dr. Gridlock column in today's Washington Post (boldface and link as in original):

Left in confusion

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

What is the proper technique for two cars facing each other at a single-lane intersection that both intend to make a left-hand turn?

Both cars turning in front of each other makes some sense but leads to interfering with the driver behind the turning one who wants to go straight or make a right turn.

If I try to make the left turn behind the opposite car, the other driver often gets confused by my left-turn signal and cuts in front of me.

Brian Fallon, Olney

DG: I found the best citation on left turns in the Virginia Driver's Manual: "When two vehicles are approaching each other and signaling to turn left, both vehicles should take the inside path, the lane closest to the center,"  the manual reads. "They will complete the turn by turning in front of each other."

The car behind that left-turning car in front of you shouldn't be interfering with your turn. But, of course, use caution, and don't get so focused on the turning car that you miss seeing any pedestrians who might be crossing where you're turning.

Why in the world would anyone think you should make a left turn "behind" the other car? "Tangent turns" are the standard everywhere I've ever been, and for good reason–think about what would happen if you had a line of cars wanting to turn. With "tangent turns," or turning "in front of the other car," the two lines can move uninterrupted (assuming nothing else requires them to stop and yield, of course). If you turn "behind" the other car, then the two lines have to cross each other twice (once on each side of the road) and it's a recipe for a bunch of unnecessary stopping or a bunch of crashes.

The concern about "interfering" with someone behind the guy turning the opposite way is why left-turners have to yield unless there's an arrow or other reason for a protected turn.

[agentsteel53]

how would you even find two such idiots at the same intersection at the same time to orchestrate this sort of thing!?

[J N Winkler]

Driver's manuals in some other countries (including Britain) describe the "tangent" approach (where the paths of the two opposite left-turning vehicles don't cross) and the "behind" approach (where the paths of the two opposite left-turning vehicles do cross) as valid options for turning left.  I agree that the "behind" approach has too many conflict points and is too poorly understood in this country to be anything other than an emergency option for making left turns, but for some intersection configurations it has line-of-sight advantages since it removes an obstruction--the vehicle opposite waiting to turn left--from your field of view.  Particularly at intersections where the left-turn lane is adjacent to the through lanes, as is the case at most signalized arterial intersections, a major source of accidents is people turning left and getting clobbered by vehicles they can't see because they are hidden by left turners coming from the opposite direction.  This consideration is also part of the reason left-turn lanes on divided highways with wide medians are often put toward the left side of the median so that they are displaced significantly to the left of the through lanes.

[realjd]

Aren't some rural intersections in the UK controlled with yield signs and a circle painted on the ground, making it a mini-roundabout? It seems like a "behind" turn would be proper for a situation like that.

I can't imagine an American thinking that a "behind" turn makes sense. It's no wonder the person keeps getting cut off if the try!

[1995hoo]

Aren't some rural intersections in the UK controlled with yield signs and a circle painted on the ground, making it a mini-roundabout? It seems like a "behind" turn would be proper for a situation like that.

I can't imagine an American thinking that a "behind" turn makes sense. It's no wonder the person keeps getting cut off if the try!

Mini-roundabouts in the UK often don't have "Give Way" signs at all (in fact, many places where Americans would have a sign the Brits use markings on the road surface), but yes, in theory a mini-roundabout would have you turn behind the other vehicle.

But that's a different scenario because it's a roundabout. The letter-writer in my original post specifically noted a single-lane intersection, which presumably means what most of us call a two-lane road with no separate turn lane present (i.e., you have to stop in the lane of traffic if you want to turn, and people behind you either wait or pass on the shoulder if they can manage it and if there's no cop around).

[Mr_Northside]

At first I also thought: "That seems incredibly dumb" ...
Then I remembered that there is an example that I've done countless times growing up, in Mt. Pleasant, PA:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mount+Pleasant,+PA&hl=en&ll=40.148912,-79.542319&spn=0.001296,0.003862&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=43.799322,93.076172&vpsrc=6&hnear=Mt+Pleasant,+Westmoreland,+Pennsylvania&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=40.148969,-79.542434&panoid=27XfF0oKgRiu__KyApp9GQ&cbp=12,134.18,,0,5.94

It's a 4-way signalized intersection (with no protected arrows at all) in the heart of town, with a monument in the middle, and signs informing people to "Keep Right of Monument", meaning opposing left turning cars have to pass each other @ the monument before turning left (and yielding to any oncoming traffic).

[Brandon]

At first I also thought: "That seems incredibly dumb" ...
Then I remembered that there is an example that I've done countless times growing up, in Mt. Pleasant, PA:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mount+Pleasant,+PA&hl=en&ll=40.148912,-79.542319&spn=0.001296,0.003862&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=43.799322,93.076172&vpsrc=6&hnear=Mt+Pleasant,+Westmoreland,+Pennsylvania&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=40.148969,-79.542434&panoid=27XfF0oKgRiu__KyApp9GQ&cbp=12,134.18,,0,5.94

It's a 4-way signalized intersection (with no protected arrows at all) in the heart of town, with a monument in the middle, and signs informing people to "Keep Right of Monument", meaning opposing left turning cars have to pass each other @ the monument before turning left (and yielding to any oncoming traffic).

That's more like a signalized roundabout. 

[pianocello]

I can understand turning behind the opposite car, but only when there's a median placed in the middle of the intersection, like almost every major intersection between 2-way streets in the city of New Orleans.

[apeman33]

Believe it or not, people used to do this all the time when turning off one of the side streets onto the U.S. 69 bypass in Fort Scott. I think it was the width of the median that caused the confusion. In the past 5-6 years, though, people finally started showing common sense and stopped doing it.