So she just got back to me and it's illegal here because there is a municipal bylaw that prohibits making a u-turn on intersections where the cross street has a stop sign. Apparently these are pretty common so you should check your local bylaws to ensure you are in fact making a legal u-turn.

I now live in Florida too. Despite what the laws may say, I am very careful when making a u-turn at any intersection. I try to make eye contact with the drivers any stopped cars that may enter my path before I make the turn. I would rather have the right away and not go first than have the right of way and get hit because someone else is in a hurry.

By the way, Florida has the worst drivers I have ever seen.

I am pretty sure that no matter who had the right of way, if there had been a collision and that video was entered into evidence then the FR-S driver would have been cited for reckless operation.

I make the same u turn into my local coffee drive through every morning and manage to turn around a 6 foot wide median without taking up two lanes. If you turning radius it that big there Strat you may want to get the car checked.

Watch the video again, I agree, 6 foot wide median no big deal. 1 foot wide median like the video in the OP and my local roads is much less room to work with. Your scenario basically agrees with mine that you need ~12 feet of space to complete a u-turn if you assume a lane is ~6 feet wide.

:cheers:

Edit: video looks like the median is somewhere around 3 feet wide, still stand by my statement and believe my car to be unbroken.

Edit 2: Rear track width on an 86 is bang on 6' so a lane is a bit wider than that call it 8' for comfort, by your scenario you need 14' to complete a u-turn, if median in the OP is 3' wide that leaves 11' to drift over, basically almost impossible to put any less than half a car into the right lane.

Making a left turn always has to give way. U-turn is extension of a left turn.

End of story.

Am I the only one thinking that maybe the Hummer driver was thinking the FRS was going to left turn there?

Even when the person making a right has a stop sign or red light?

what was wrong in the video? Doesn't everyone do U-turns this way?

Did I miss something?

This seems to be the logic of every truck and SUV owner around my parts. They say they want to save gas. When asked why they didn't just buy a car or something more economical, they use the excuse of "safety" in case of a wreak or deer. :bs:

Yes. If you were making a left, it's very unlikely that you will be found 100% not at fault, even if the other person is charged.

If you turn left at a stop, and a guy blows through and hits you, and there are witnesses, the cops may clear you, and charge the other guy. In the eyes of the insurance companies, you'll be partly at fault for not ensuring the intersection was clear before proceeding. Where there are no witnesses, there is a good chance the cop will see it like the insurance folks. Same goes for red lights.

One very important piece of info, that is especially bad for left turners. In some areas, where there are by-laws that no person can block an intersection (usually there will be a sign to that affect displayed) left turners are just screwed. In those places, even the cops are against you, and their recommendation is that you do not enter the intersection on your green light, unless you 100% can make it all the way through the turn without having to stop. If the light changes color and you get hit while trying to clear the intersection, you'll have your ass handed to you.

Good luck out there.

His rears are also locked (or spinning) and smoking before he even starts his u turn. Assuming he left marks there, the reckless driving will get him the ticket for the accident because a controlled u turn would have avoided the incident all together. Right of way isn't the final ruling. Also the reckless driving alone is a last chance to avoid, which will also result in the FR-S being hit. A buddy of mine is a HCSO (Florida) deputy and that's his feedback as well - and how he'd write it up.

Edit: just watched the video again, the tracks are clearly visible in the turn lane, removing any reasonable doubt that he reacted to the hummer.

There's a reason why U-turns get the yield of way for intersecting lanes turning right say on a stop or a red.

Let's call road "A" the road where there are people turning left (U-turns allowed) or going straight (or right). And road "B" as the intersecting road.

Imagine a green light on Road A, you are there in the lane turning left behind a few cars , there is a car on the intersecting lane (Road B) and is going to turn right (Light is red due to the intersecting road being green). He sees cars going straight and cars going left (cars in your lane have all made left turns, none have made a U-turn). Since he was already stopped and you can turn right at a red (after stopping). He goes, but at the same time, you are the next car that is turning left, but you're not making a left. You're making a U-turn. You both meet (you're in the middle of making a U-turn), and at this second, one of you have to decide who goes first. The reason why you have the right of way is, if you stop. You are stopping traffic from people behind you turning left , or making a U-turn. You can also get easily rear ended if you had to break quick to avoid a collision. The other car ffrom Road B can easily stop as cars behind him aren't going since their light is red. That's why if a car on Road B, turning right from a red/stop sign turns and doesn't stop and hits you in your U-turn. He would be responsible, not you.

Note. I did not get this from anywhere, I just thought about it, and imagined a scenario on why this is true. THIS is probably the reason why it's true though. It makes sense to me. Hope I explained it well enough. Being 19 years old driving a sports car, I try to understand the law as much as possible and driving rules and regulations here in California, and there is many. I try to come up with scenarios and how I would respond if placed in some. Also, first thing I bought was a dash cam with this car lol. Because I know people will think me, the young driver, will be responsible in a car crash (hopefully never happens). There's a lot of reckless drivers where I live. Just my 2 cents.

-edit not sure about other states, but if you're turning right you have to stay to the lane closest to the right. U-turns it doesn't matter I believe. Although if there is two lanes to turn left (or more) you must end where your lane ends and not enter another lane (otherwise you'd hit someone if there was someone beside you also turning left)

Sorry to briefly derail this thread, but I am curious what dashcam you got. Been looking into them and am having a tough time deciding which one to go with. PM me so this thread doesn't go too off topic..

:offtopic::thanks: