Different States With Different Driving Cultures.

Maybe it was just a regular green light, and the arrow he referred to was a white arrow painted in the left hand turn lane. In that case he would certainly need to yield to the oncoming traffic. What say you, dirtydeeds?

Now I'm curious what state does one have the right away to turn left on a solid green light, with out yielding to on coming traffic.?

I think it was solid green, not an arrow. If it was an arrow, then I have no idea what he's talking about.

You’re right, it was a solid green, BUT it was accompanied by a left arrow on the floor in my lane. Where I come from, a left arrow on the floor is always accompanied by an arrow on the light in front of it. And when the arrow is green the oncoming traffic light is always red. I’ve never seen a solid green with floor arrow combo in my life, so when I got to the intersection during the test I DID stop, saw the solid green, went again, stopped again, panicked, muscle memory kicked in hard and hit the gas pedal one last time and then stopped again. My brain was associating the solid green with just going and seeing the left arrow on the ground made me think the oncoming lane was red. I was VERY confused. By the time I stopped the last time it was already too late. The truck was pushed out enough for me to fail. I apologized to my examiner for the dangerous situation I put us in and explained that i’ve never seen that type of light/intersection situation in my life. He was understanding and basically said that these kind of things change everywhere you go so I always gotta pay attention.

Now I'm curious what state does one have the right away to turn left on a solid green light, with out yielding to on coming traffic.?

I mean, you’re right. You should yield to oncoming traffic during a solid green, it’s the arrow on the floor that threw me off. Where i’m from it’s always accompanied by a light with arrows, no solids. That’s what threw me off. Thinking about it now, I don’t know why I just didn’t think “duh, i’m supposed to yield at solid greens, I do it all the time back at home.” It was just the floor arrow that made me think otherwise. I’m sure it sounds stupid to a lot of you, but it did. Never seen the solid green + floor arrow combo before.

Driving around missouri makes me feel like i’ve never driven a vehicle before and I hate it. I know it’s not the state’s fault, I just need to rewire the way I drive when I’m not in jersey.

I live right over the Philly bridges in PA and have spent a lot time on Jersey roads. New Jersey is an odd state in regards to turning procedures. In Jersey most left turns have to made by jug handles. The small percentage of lefts allowed at intersections all have specific lanes with arrow lights. That’s definitely what threw him off

The left turn scenario he encountered today is definitely far more common in most states based on my travels in various parts of the country.

I live right over the Philly bridges in PA and have spent a lot time on Jersey roads. New Jersey is an odd state in regards to turning procedures. In Jersey most left turns have to made by jug handles. The small percentage of lefts allowed at intersections all have specific lanes with arrow lights. That’s definitely what threw him off

The left turn scenario he encountered today is definitely far more common in most states based on my travels in various parts of the country.

You’re probably thinking about southern jersey when you talk about the jugs. I’ve lived there when I was in my teens. Been across the bridge and into philly many times lol. Drove to philly a few times, felt lost there as well haha. Most of my driving experience comes from central jersey in the cities. And you’re right, we barely have any light arrows to begin with. We mostly have solid lights that we would have to pull out to make a left and wait for the light to turn red before we finish the turn safely. Traffic behind us has to go around us to get through. When there IS a light arrow + floor arrow, it’s rarely used and ONLY in intersections that have constant heavy traffic. I’ve never really been anywhere else so 🤷🏻‍♂️

Yes, most of my Jersey driving has been in the southern region. Have been up in the central and north, but destinations didn’t require too many turns once off the highway

Left Turns by dirtydeeds:

I failed to yield on green when making a left turn. I’m use to having the green light to turn left while the oncoming traffic has red especially when the lane I'm in is specifically for making a left. It has the arrow and everything.

I'm from Mississippi. I taught Step Van driving in Fairfield, NJ for several months in the fall last year. I did not notice anything unusual with the lights around Essex County.

Your description seems to describe a comon situation: the usual red/yellow/green light is hanging in the center of the road, but with an added single green left turn arrow. These usually have a sign that says "LEFT TURN YIELD ON GREEN". This means when the main green light is on, anyone going in that direction may enter the intersection and go straight or turn left as it is safe to do so. As long as the green arrow is also on, left turns are protected, no yield is needed. But the when the green left arrow goes out (there's a short waiting period) the oncoming traffic gets the green and can enter the intersection at the same time, even if there's a left turn pocket for you. Left turners may then enter the intersecton, but just as in an intersection without a left turn light, the left turn people may turn left only when it is safe.

It is unclear if dirtydeed's left arrow was ON or not. Supposing it went out as he approached the intersection, he was on his own on making that left. And if the examiner saw that an oncoming car had to slow down because dirtydeed was turning left, it's on dirtydeed for failing to yield.

I'm from Mississippi. I taught Step Van driving in Fairfield, NJ for several months in the fall last year. I did not notice anything unusual with the lights around Essex County.

Your description seems to describe a comon situation: the usual red/yellow/green light is hanging in the center of the road, but with an added single green left turn arrow. These usually have a sign that says "LEFT TURN YIELD ON GREEN". This means when the main green light is on, anyone going in that direction may enter the intersection and go straight or turn left as it is safe to do so. As long as the green arrow is also on, left turns are protected, no yield is needed. But the when the green left arrow goes out (there's a short waiting period) the oncoming traffic gets the green and can enter the intersection at the same time, even if there's a left turn pocket for you. Left turners may then enter the intersecton, but just as in an intersection without a left turn light, the left turn people may turn left only when it is safe.

Fairfield is more like a town. Lots of land. Less traffic. But, You’re right you will occasionally see the “yield for green light” as a tiny sign hanging by the green lights directing normal lanes in some towns. Where i’m from there rarely is a left turn lane. Most of the time we just pull out and wait for our light to turn red to turn safely because that’s the only time when oncoming traffic is stopped. And it’s allowed. Everybody behind us has to go around us. When we DO see a left turn lane, it’s only used in intersections with constant heavy traffic. And the only time we can turn in that left turn lane is when we have a green arrow because the oncoming traffic light is red. So, in my head, every time there’s a left turn lane I don’t have to worry about yielding because the traffic lights will direct us when to go. Hence the green arrows. My problem was, i’ve never seen a solid green light + left turn lane combo before. It might sound stupid to you guys because here in missouri they have left turn lanes in pretty much every intersection (at least that’s what it feels like to me) and some of them don’t have green arrows, just solids. It just happened to throw me off.

All i’m saying is, If i’m making a left turn in a left turn ONLY lane, I’m use to not worrying about oncoming traffic because that’s just how it is where I live. Oncoming traffic is always stopped when making a left in a left turn only land. That’s all i’m saying. Lol.

Each US state is the same. And driver's manual is the same. You always yield when turning left unless you have a green arrow. But even with a green arrow, if an oncoming guy is not slowing down, I would rather yield than kill him.