Left Turn on Red

No Left Turn SignWhen I was relatively new to police work I was patrolling behind a car that had stopped at a red light with the left turn signal blinking. The next thing I knew, this car had made a left turn on red! Well, on went the lights and siren and I chased down this alleged red light runner. This would be an easy ticket, or so I thought.

image of left turn on red light at intersection

Left Turn on Red

"What do you mean officer?" asked the driver. "I'm allowed to make a turn left on red if I turn onto a one way street!"

I collected his documents and went back to the police car. Out came my copy of the Motor Vehicle Act and I read section 129 on red lights carefully. This driver was absolutely correct! I gave his documents back and apologised with a face that was likely just as red as that traffic light had been.

Turning Position

While we are looking at the Motor Vehicle Act, section 165 says that left turns on red must be made from the left most lane of the street you are leaving to the first available lane of travel on the street that you are entering.

Shoulder Checks

Unless you are turning from a one way street, remember that you will have to look further across the intersection for other road users when shoulder checking before making a left turn on red. Traffic will not be right beside our vehicle as it is when you make a right turn on red.

Right of Way

The right of way rules for left turns apply. Drivers turning left on red must yield to both cross traffic and right turn traffic on the other side of the intersection as necessary.

The Turn is Not Mandatory

Some drivers will be upset that you make this turn and some will be upset if you do not. As always, you need to choose to do what you are comfortable with to be safe and that choice may be to wait for the light to change.

Look for a Sign

Left turns may be prohibited by signs at intersections. The prohibition could forbid all left turns or left turns during specific times of the day.

Driving Outside of BC

Laws are not uniform across North America and you will have to make sure that this turn is permitted before you do it when driving outside of BC.

Share This Article

Back in the day when I still taught newbies how to drive, I liked to introduce them to the left turn potential presented when southbound on Burrard, turning eastbound into Nelson. It would be made clear of course that however the turn gets made, it should be from the left-most lane to the left-most lane available, per MVA Section 165(3).

Take a look, here's an overview. That there left turn can be accomplished in any of three different ways!

  • Left on advance green arrow - referred to as a 'Protected Turn'. Northbound traffic continues to face a solid red light, pedestrians in the east side crosswalk continue to face a 'Don't Walk', so that a bunch of vehicles will get to turn unimpeded.
  • Left on solid green light. The end of the green arrow phase simply turns this (clever play on words, there) into a typical left turn, where it is incumbent on the driver to yield to both oncoming traffic and pedestrians in the east side crosswalk before making the turn.
  • Left on solid red light. Suddenly the possible conflicts have changed! The driver has to ensure that he/she won't interfere with or affect the behaviour of the pedestrians in the immediate, north side crosswalk - or, the eastbound traffic on Nelson. Probably more potential for making this maneuver at 1:00 am than 1:00 pm, given the traffic volumes.

Street view, here. I wonder if the driver of that red taxi knows what's possible, whilst still being legal?

I've always felt the City of Vancouver could reduce congestion dramatically in some areas if they would warn / ticket drivers who sit at left turns onto one ways. It's a huge pet peeve of mine. There are some areas where one must wait for two or three signals just because the idiot at the front of the line doesn't know his motor vehicle act... along with all the other patient and stupid drivers who enable this behaviour by not letting the driver at the front know he's holding up traffic. There's a cost to this.

I've always felt the City of Vancouver could reduce congestion dramatically in some areas if they would warn / ticket drivers who sit at left turns onto one ways.

A precondition of warning or ticketing drivers would surely be that they are, in some way, breaking the law.

But anyone who has actually read - and comprehended - MVA Section 129 will also have realized that there is a vital difference between maneuvers that are mandatory and maneuvers that are sometimes permitted.

The Turn is Not Mandatory

Some drivers will be upset that you make this turn and some will be upset if you do not. As always, you need to choose to do what you are comfortable with to be safe and that choice may be to wait for the light to change.

NOBODY is obligated to turn left - or right, for that matter - just because they can. (The laws governing the situation were written eons back, when traffic lights just operated on timers, without regard for pent up pedestrian or vehicle demand) - arguably, in this current age, turns on red could be made illegal (as in New York or Quebec) as they're no longer necessary.

In fact, it's a personal choice that will be based on knowledge of both traffic laws and the situation facing them. Heck, the biggest hazard with this type of maneuver may be that the driver commencing to turn will be concentrating on ensuring he's not going to interfere with vehicles on the one-way - and at that moment, his light goes green and the pedestrians are given a 'Walk' signal.

It's about choices. When teaching students about this type of maneuver, I have always insisted that unless the driver has figured out which pedestrians are about to get a 'Walk' signal, and which drivers are about to get a green light (and when this is about to happen), then they simply don't have the knowledge needed to make the move safely, and in a way that will not affect any other road users. So they should take another look before proceeding.

There are some areas where one must wait for two or three signals just because the idiot at the front of the line doesn't know his motor vehicle act... along with all the other patient and stupid drivers who enable this behaviour by not letting the driver at the front know he's holding up traffic.

So what are you saying here? Interesting to see that you equate being patient with being stupid. Interesting also that (presumably) you think the drivers ahead should be either jumping out of their cars to go and accost the driver ahead in order to educate them, or start blasting away on their horn in the ridiculous belief that this will provide the necessary 'education'.

Frankly, in many instances, the drivers of the vehicles in line behind the lead driver simply don't have sufficient view of the pending conflicts to determine what's actually going on - yet remarkably, they don't hesitate to start beeping away if they're not getting where they're going asap.

However, municipilaties seem to delight in putting up signs (particularly signs that prohibit things).  At many intersections these days, this will include signs that prohibit turning right on a red (this, to protect pedestrians who could get hit by an impatient driver).

But in most municipalities, it seems that they never put up signs that prohibit turning left on a red - even though it may be dangerous! After all, while a left turn from Pacific into Hornby provides a great view of pending conflicts, a left turn from Drake into Seymour, or Helmickon into Howe, or Burrard into Melville, is very risky due to the short sightlines. So if the City of Vancouver were smart, they would put up signs prohibiting a left on the red in these situations. Why? Because it would make the roads safer, and also make drivers think about what they usually can or cannot do under law, in terms of turning left from a 2-way into a 1-way.