When you are driving the most dangerous maneuver is when you make a left turn.
In Ontario the Highway traffic Act provides that it is the responsibility of the person making the left turn to make sure the left turn can be made in safety.
Here is the problem – let’s say you entered an intersection on a green light with your left turn signal activated. There is opposing traffic coming from the other side so you sit and wait. The light turns red, opposing traffic appears to come to a stop, so you start making your left turn. Out of nowhere comes a car going through the red light and hits you. I often see this scenario in my office.
Who is at fault? Your first instinct is to say that the other driver is at fault because they clearly went through a red light and you entered the intersection on a green light.
The only problem is that when you started making your left turn the light was also red for you. In fact it was red for both vehicles.
Since the Highway traffic Act puts the responsibility for making a left turn safely on the driver making the left turn then most often it will be the driver making the left turn that will be found at fault. And it is extremely difficult to argue that there should be a split in fault – in some cases where fault is not clear the issue is often resolved by splitting fault between drivers. But it’s extremely difficult to do this when it comes to left turns.
It doesn’t seem fair but there is good reason behind it.
When you are turning left from a two way street you are cutting across the path of oncoming traffic. It’s the only time you as a driver have to cut across the path of oncoming traffic. Almost always people making the left turn believe that the left turn can be made in safety. But sometimes it is extremely difficult to assess the speed of oncoming traffic. And it may be difficult to assess whether the turn can be made safely if visibility is poor and poor road conditions exist.
Be careful out there – especially when turning left.
Until next time. Be well.