turning left

I was taught, many many years ago, that if you are trying to turn left at a stop light, you can position yourself in the intersection (as long as the light is green) until it's clear to turn. If you are caught in the middle when the light turns yellow or red, it is still your right to turn after yielding to on coming traffic.

I am now told, that you can't even enter the intersection when the light is green, unless you can complete your turn.

Apparently my small town's police have an issue with how I was taught

how do you guys do it?

Originally Posted by ord27

I was taught, many many years ago, that if you are trying to turn left at a stop light, you can position yourself in the intersection (as long as the light is green) until it's clear to turn. If you are caught in the middle when the light turns yellow or red, it is still your right to turn after yielding to on coming traffic.

I am now told, that you can't even enter the intersection when the light is green, unless you can complete your turn.

Apparently my small town's police have an issue with how I was taught

how do you guys do it?

Same here, enter the intersection while green complete the turn when clear. If I did what your local police are saying around here I'd go deaf from the car horns behind me.

I'd just follow the guys instructions that has the power to arrest you....

isnt there usually a sign by the light that says "left turn yield on green". I have always gone in the intersection to wait.

Was taught to pull in to the intersection on a green. I would go in to that station and confirm with other officers and if they agree with you mention that one of their own seems to think differently.

In Florida it's legal to be in the intersection after the light turns red. And those with the green light must yield until the intersection is clear. So yeah, I pull into the intersection as long as the light is green or yellow.

I got into an accident this way. Was in the intersection when light was green, turned yellow and people kept coming, turned red and one lane stopped and I proceeded to turn. Unfortunately the guy in the second lane decided to run the red light and clip my rear bumper. He took out the whole side of his truck. I got nervous since I was in a work truck (Durango) and I went through a red light. I was lucky since the guy that stopped at the light pulled over and said he would be a witness. He was a retired secret service agent that had his own business as a drivers ed instructor.

Well the cop showed up and got the stories. The guy that hit me was going crazy yelling how I pulled out in front of him. The cop said I had a right to clear the intersection. He was sited for running a red light and then arrested for having an outstanding warrant.

The cop said I have the right to clear the intersection even before those with the green light can go. This was in a small town outside of El Paso.