Left turn on red

[Anonymous]

Question:

If you have multiple one way lanes turning left onto another one way with multiple lanes, is it legal to turn left from the lane that isn't furthest to the left? As long as you follow the lanes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's legal many places, but I don't know about around here. Where I'm from you have to be going from a one-way street to a one-way street.

"You may also turn left after you stop at a red light, if you are in the left lane and are turning left from a one-way street onto another one-way street, unless a sign tells you not to turn. You must first stop and yield to pedestrians and other traffic."

So my Aunt Lou wasn't lying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question:

If you have multiple one way lanes turning left onto another one way with multiple lanes, is it legal to turn left from the lane that isn't furthest to the left? As long as you follow the lanes?

The way I was taught, no. You'd need to be in the leftmost lane. (Or, for a right turn on red, in the rightmost lane).

However, one thing I've learned from this thread is that the real answer is highly dependent on where you live. I took driver's ed in Washington state in the 1990s, so the way I was taught may be completely wrong here. Or it may be right in MD and wrong in DC, or any other permutation. The above link from VA doesn't seem to prohibit turning left from the 2nd lane, but you'd need to check all of the laws (state, local, county) for your locality.

Wouldn't it be nice if there was some standardization across driving laws?