Policy on U-Turns at Intersection traffic Lights
 

Hi All.

My wife got pulled up for doing a U-turn at a set of traffic lights in my local area. Does anyone here know the law, as she received on the spot $100 fine and lost 1 demerit point:( She did it safely and there were no traffic or pedestrians nearby. A friend of ours pointed us to the website below re can and can'ts, any body know what the go is. Any feedback is apreciated. Is she within her rights, and/or should we contest it?

[url]http://www2.mainroads.wa.gov.au/Internet/Standards/RTEms/traffic_mgmt/signals/policy.asp[/url]

My understanding was that its illegal unless there is a U-turn permitted sign there.

^^
whs.

Unless the rules have changed since I did the test years ago, there were three places you couldn't pull a U-ee.

In a one way street....derr!:rolleyes:
At a set of traffic lights. (unless signed otherwise)
Between a no U turn sign and the next road intersection.

[QUOTE=NVRENUF;446069]My understanding was that its illegal unless there is a U-turn permitted sign there.[/QUOTE]

x2
Yup as he said.

Thanks heaps for the feedback guys

Yep illegal, and dangerous.

Regulation 40 in the Australian Road Rules

I've never really understood why it's that dangerous though?
Other than possibly getting rear ended by a car that isn't expecting you to slow down for the U turn more than a right turn, what's the problem? It's legal in most other states.
If I could U turn at just one set of lights I could get to work a minute earlier!:D

[QUOTE=NVRENUF;446069]My understanding was that its illegal unless there is a U-turn permitted sign there.[/QUOTE]

2nd - What he said. You can only do a u turn at tcl's when there is a "U turn permitted" sign there. I've been away for a while but the only one I know of is near the Bell tower.

Theres one in Cannington too. Albany hwy heading into the city. Near Alberts.

she got lucky. i got pinged 2 points.

i dont understand why its dangerous either, safer than the woman i saw slow down, then turn right onto a grass island / median strip and then over to the other side of the road...

unfortunately is illegal unless there is a sign....one of my mate got pinged too...dont know about the demerits though..

there's some on South st too. Agreed with it being a pain, especially on Albany Highway where you can't cross traffic anywhere.. Was shopping there the other weekend and it was a right pain to get to the other side.

So has anyone got any theories as to why it's not allowed here? Is it really that dangerous in WA and not anywhere else in Aus?

the way i remember the rule is no u-turns permitted at a controlled intersection, that is, an intersection with traffic lights or a stop sign. Giveway is all good!

Its likely to have something to do with not all intersections being equal. There are sets where traffic will have a green light to merge into the lanes where you are trying to u-turn in to. eg. At a T-intersection, you could get a green right arrow, and the traffic turning right out of the road you are turning into has a red right arrow, but may have a green left arrow. If you did a u-turn you would be turning into traffic you have no visibility of.

Too many intersection configurations for the masses to remember whats safe. Result = blanket ban and a few permitted signs where necessary. Too expensive to put them everywhere! The masses have enough trouble with remembering how to use roundabouts. Dont want to hurt their brains!

It may not be dangerous when 1 person is doing it,
but if it was legal then everyone would be doing it and then all of a sudden
Instead of a right arrow having a smooth flow of people half of them are doing
a u-turn and it just messes up the whole flow.

Not only that often when you have a right arrow the right hand side of you there is a green light for people turning left, if you do a u-turn you are then conflicting with those peoples path, in where it can be dangerous.

[QUOTE=RichX;446083]Yep illegal, and dangerous.[/QUOTE]

it's actually legal (unless signed otherwise) to do a u turn in victoria, so i highly doubt it's dangerous.. just a different set of rules.

like hook turns!

we need the "turn left on red light after stopping" rule. that one rocks my shit

Re: Policy on U-Turns at Intersection traffic Lights
 

[QUOTE="tuna"]like hook turns![/QUOTE]
They confuse the hell out of me.
Never forget trying to do a hook turn with the canopy of my ute chockers full of gear and a tram in my mirrors.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[QUOTE=tuna;446248]like hook turns![/QUOTE]

hook turns make perfect sense. it's so you're not in the tram's way when it's coming through. it's also good as it allows two lanes of through traffic, whereas sitting in the middle of the inside road blocks up one lane and cars have to move to the outer.

what I like is that you can turn left on a red light at an intersection (allowed in USA - obviously it's a right turn there). you only have to give way in one direction, so it's pretty easy.

[QUOTE=dtrally;446101]I've never really understood why it's that dangerous though?
Other than possibly getting rear ended by a car that isn't expecting you to slow down for the U turn more than a right turn, what's the problem? It's legal in most other states.
If I could U turn at just one set of lights I could get to work a minute earlier!:D[/QUOTE]


Because on some intersections, there will be a green arrow for traffic to be turning left, meaning that you will be doing a U-Turn directly into traffic that has a green arrow to turn left.

Example intersection: Albany Hwy and Nicholson Road - Seen it happen before. Someone doing a U-Turn to head back towards Carousel and then suddenly realised a shitload of traffic has green arrow to be turning left and then they are pinned down and have to wait for that to stop.

hook turns makes sense, but as usual victoria lead the way on road rules and regulations.

usually at our inconvenience, but they freely admit road revenue raising and have a fairly low tolerence to hoons.

i think its great all the taxi's are one colour too. unlike perth.

[QUOTE=jEstEr?;446253]we need the "turn left on red light after stopping" rule. that one rocks my shit[/QUOTE]

was just in the states. being able to turn right on a red is baller!

[QUOTE=jEstEr?;446253]we need the "turn left on red light after stopping" rule. that one rocks my shit[/QUOTE]

yes agreed, the whole world operates just fine with this rule..right on red after a stop in the USA, left on red after a stop in Victoria. Improves traffic flow significantly too. Too much common sense for us common folk in WA to use.

Re: Policy on U-Turns at Intersection traffic Lights
 

It's ok I'm sure it will come in here in 10 yrs and the gubbberment will say it's a brand new fresh idea to help traffic flow. Lol

WA state government and Rob "the joke" Johnson have NO interest in improving traffic flow on our roads, with exception of the flow of revenue.

U-Turns at traffic lights become extremely dangerous when traffic coming from the side road has a green filter arrow light.

They are given a green light to go (and 99% will turn without looking if there is any traffic, as traffic in the other direction should be stopped by a red light). Suddenly someone doing a u-turn is merging into traffic with a green light and all hell breaks loose.

The rule is there to protect the piss poor road design we have.

not to mention councils want to maximise revenue from realestate,

lowering speed limits = lower road noise = higher property values = higher council rates.

increasing traffic flow through busy intersections is only going to increase noise.

leech highway is now 70, no trucks etc. not for safety but to only reduce noise.

[QUOTE=Kato;446296]U-Turns at traffic lights become extremely dangerous when traffic coming from the side road has a green filter arrow light.

They are given a green light to go (and 99% will turn without looking if there is any traffic, as traffic in the other direction should be stopped by a red light). Suddenly someone doing a u-turn is merging into traffic with a green light and all hell breaks loose.

The rule is there to protect the piss poor road design we have.[/QUOTE]

Exactly, as per my post above :)

A well executed handbrake turn, followed by at 4wd drift and lots of tyre smoke is perfectly acceptable however.

[QUOTE=dtrally;446208]So has anyone got any theories as to why it's not allowed here? Is it really that dangerous in WA and not anywhere else in Aus?[/QUOTE]

the intersection of Leach Hwy and Winthrop drive, right near my place, is notorious for people doing u-turns at the lights, and just as notorious for cops to hide there and ping people for doing it.
on several ocasions I've seen cars nearly be cleaned up when they are doing a u-turn at this intersection. cars turning from Winthrop drive not expecting a car to do a u-turn, pull out from the give way sign, only to get 1/2 way across and slam on the brakes because of the car turning at the lights...thats why i think it is "dangerous". but in saying this, it is also the other road users responsibility to look out for cars doing things like this...same as not stopping at a stop sign etc.

[QUOTE=tuna;446297]not to mention councils want to maximise revenue from realestate,

lowering speed limits = lower road noise = higher property values = higher council rates.

increasing traffic flow through busy intersections is only going to increase noise.

leech highway is now 70, no trucks etc. not for safety but to only reduce noise.[/QUOTE]

Wow! an interesting theory that makes perfect sense.

Also on the turn on a red in the states, was my most favorite thing of all time. It scared the shit out of the missus when I first did it but she got over it.

yep i also got done like that... had a rapidly deflating tyre and did a U'ey at the lights cause there was a BP about 250m from the lights, coppers saw me and pretty much made it out like i'd raped 50000 babies.. lights sirens launched over the median strip etc and stopped me about 40-50m from the BP...

I pointed out the flat tyre and the cunt took his sweet ass time and only let me go when it was fully deflated.. CUNT!

[quote]So has anyone got any theories as to why it's not allowed here? Is it really that dangerous in WA and not anywhere else in Aus?[/quote]

We have some of the most retarded drivers in the world. Get a 6 pack of beer and deckchair and go to the roundabout burns beach/joondalup drive, you will be thoroughly entertained and it's free! So any restrictions like not allowing us to U turn at traffic lights is to protect us normal drivers from the retards.


I was in the US a few years ago & at night the lights flash either orange or red (depending on direction) meaning flashing orange = go through with caution) flashing red = give way to other traffic. Works very well, but there is no well in hell WA could cope with something as complex as that. (Is this law widely used throughout the US American Dave, or only certain states?)

^^^ I live on one side of that roundabout and the mrs's oldies live on the other side, makes me wanna kill myself everytime i have to go thru it !!! so sooo many 'tards!

Perth drivers and roundabout FTL :(

[QUOTE=GTB Liberty;446638]Perth drivers and roundabout FTL :([/QUOTE]

Perth drivers fail full stop.

[QUOTE=GTB Liberty;446638]Perth drivers and roundabout FTL :([/QUOTE]

A few issues ago, RAC did a special on 'clarifying rules of roundabouts'.
They completed fubarred the rules in the article, I thought I had gone mad. The issue afterwards they corrected themselves and I felt sane again. I cant imagine how many tards have now learnt the wrong rules because of that fk up though.