You can actually get a ticket in houston for doing it "h-town" style according op's pic. Good question. Bay area blvd is an example of this, where because barely half the drivers there seemed to know the law, I double checked with webster & houston LE who frequented my workplace at the time to confirm. You still get honked at & angry faces pointed at you, people are so certain they're right.
If I'm the only one around in the intersection I'll do 'H-town' way because it is a shorter distance. If there is anyone else there at all I do the 'virginia' style. That is the proper way to turn and how I was taught in driving school.
don't try the "h-town way" on broadway in galveston. would not fly. also, in before someone says, "who goes to galveston?"
http://onlinemanuals.txdot.gov/txdotmanuals/sfb/divided_highway_intersections_and_crossovers.htm It depends on marking, offset and median width. i.e. single lane median should be performed the "Houston" way and medians over 30' should be the "Virginia" way. If they are marked, like on Broadway in Galveston, they must be adhered to. Police sometimes get it wrong. I once got a ticket for my registration and inspection stickers being side by side. There is a diagram provided by the state when get your registration showing that it's legal. The judge giggled when I handed it to him.
The Houston way is bogus and by no means the majority method here. I have had people honk at me for using the Virginia method when they clearly did not understand the proper way to do it... I get annoyed by the Houston method due to the concern of not seeing traffic.
after clicking thsi thread, it seems like i went through a portal to a parallel universe, or mentally challenged universe.
Virginia way is more common sense-ical. r****ds who do htown way are likely the same ones who create their own new freakin lane during stop and go traffic, off the sides of the highways, and then after passing everybody, wave at people asking to get back onto the regular lane.
If both cars are approaching their u turn at the same speeds and using their signals to indicate they're going to be slowing down and making a turn, then there's gonna be a gap in traffic for both sides to make their uturn even with the Houston way. But nobody signals and nobody turns or can turn hard enough to stay in 1 lane when making the uturn, so I guess the Virginia way has its use.
I have always done it the correct way, and have recently assumed that those doing it wrong were FROM Virginia.
