Yet another U-Turn in front of a Motorcycle

[DaveDragon]

This happened this morning on US-19 about 10 miles from my Casa.
http://www.tampabaylive.com/stories/2006/04/060411ax.shtml

[mjac]

I doesnt help much now but years ago it was illegal in Florida to make U-turn at an intersection. I often wonder about the wisdom in repealing that law.

[alindsay]

Used to be illegal, now they design the roads so you have to make a U-turn. Many urban four lane roads around here are designed so you can't make a left turn at an intersection. You have to first turn right onto the road, cross 2 lanes of traffic and then make a U-turn.

Sounds like a lot of opportunities for an accident. Go figure!

[unleashd]

This same exact situation "almost" happened to me yesterday.

I was taking my 10 yr. old daughter to her tennis class during my lunch break and came up on the intersection at about 35-40 mph. Keep in mind that this is a fairly large intersection, in that there are 4+2 (turn) lanes on each side that you have go across. It turned yellow after I entered the intersection and so, I did not want to slam on the brakes only to come to a stop in the middle of the intersection :( .

But that old lady from the opposite (with a 'yield on green' sign) decided :confused: that she wanted to come right across the 4 lanes to make a U-turn onto the RIGHT MOST LANE!!!! :eek:

Well, I realized pretty quickly that she was not going to slow/stop and let me through. So, by the time she was in the turn, I DID stop my bike in the middle of that intersection. 40 to 0 in about 30', both brakes and shifting down like crazy. My daughter was cool and composed. I was irritated and screaming at that lady inside my full face helmet :o

I caught up with her at the next traffic light and asked her if she did not see my bike with the headlight, two running lights, and the two YELLOW lights? She replies, "But I did not think you were going to cross through the intersection" :mad: :mad: :mad:

What do ya mean??? I am IN the intersection in front of you going straight, meaning I have the right of way and only about 40'-50' in front of you on a clear sunny day and you say, you did not see me ??????

These dumb a$$ cagers....I think its time for me to get a headlight modulator soon. I had much success on my previous bikes with that. Even had a coupld of folks pull over :D

[meese]

In Seoul, many intersections have dedicated u-turn lanes that run inside oncoming traffic. That means you can do a full u-turn without violating anyone's right of way. This is independent of the condition of the traffic lights, since you're never crossing opposing traffic. Of course, they have no real concept of right-of-way, and they'll just violate your space anytime it suits them.

Come to think of it, Texas also has similar u-turn lanes on many of its highway frontage roads. Very handy, once you understand them.