Traffic Q&A: U-turns legal, but watch out
Question: “My husband recently saw an accident at the busy intersection of 112th Street and 94th Avenue on South Hill involving a U-turn,” writes Nancy Wolf. “As he and I discussed who might be at fault, we wondered, when and where are U-turns legal?
“The answer is obvious at intersections marked with a ‘No U-turn’ sign. But what about intersections without such a sign? Are U-turns allowed outside of intersections?”
Answer: “This is a conundrum faced by collision investigators on a daily basis,” said Sgt. Freddy Williams of the Washington State Patrol.
Here’s the letter of the law, RCW 46.61.295: “The driver of any vehicle shall not turn such vehicle so as to proceed in the opposite direction unless such movement can be made in safety and without interfering with other traffic.”
As Williams puts it, the law says a U-turn can be made anywhere as long as it can be made safely and without interfering with other traffic. The exceptions are when there are signs expressly prohibiting such turns, or in cities and counties that prohibit them unless a sign expressly allows it.
Here’s the conundrum: The law also allows for drivers to turn right at a red light. Those drivers are required to remain stopped while other vehicles “complete their movements” in the area and while pedestrians lawfully move about.
“So if a person making the right turn approaches the intersection, checks for traffic, then proceeds into the intersection before the person executing the U-turn, does the person making the U-turn have to yield?” Williams said. “Does the person making the U-turn automatically have the right of way because they have the green signal?”
He said these types of collisions “drive investigators crazy.”
Among other things, he said investigators would try to determine who was in the intersection first by looking at where the contact was made on the vehicles and how far the driver making the right turn made it into the intersection. Another question to be considered is whether either party violated a local ordinance.
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