I've searched several places on the net and haven't been able to find a definitive answer....enter CF.net. What are the laws in TX concerning U-turns. I seem to remember them differently in IL than what people tell me in TX. If making a U-turn at an intersection on a 4-lane divided road, and another car is turning right at a stop sign (both cars wanting to end up going the same way on the same road), who has the right-of-way? The U-turn was made where the road widens to 5 lanes to allow cars to turn left into an apartment complex. The U-turn car got into the left turn lane (as if entering the apartments) and proceeded to make a U-turn from that lane. Any links (so I can print it out to prove it) will be much appreciated with a $5 tipjar donation.
Speaking of U-turns, one of my pet peeves is when idiots decide to take illegal u-turns, and the back half of their cars is stuck in the lane they're taking the u-turn from, causing a backlog of traffic in that lane, and subsequently causing people to miss the upcoming traffic light, as it turns from green to red. I see idiots doing this ALL the time on Westheimer when I drive home every night. I honk like hell to try to embarass them, but alas it does no good. Stop taking illegal u-turns people!
The rant was not aimed at you. It was a general spewing of venom towards those making u-turns at obviously illegal places.
I always thought that if you can make a legal left turn, you can make a U turn as long as it is not posted otherwise.
Drapg, I didn't think it was aimed at me. Actually, I feel the same way. I'm just trying to find out who had the right of way in this case. I was the car at the stop sign. So far my search has been fruitless, so I thought I'd try here.
I believe that this is correct, but as goophers pointed out, most people can time this move correctly and end up causing backups. I usually avoid doing U-turns, not because I can't, but because I don't have a U-turn signal on my car. How is the other driver supposed to know that you are making a U-turn? I have had enough close calls like ArtV had to realize that it just isn't worth the 30 seconds it saved me to not pull into a random parking lot and turn around.
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/ftp/forms/DLhandbook.pdf There's the entire Texas driver's handbook in pdf format...The only thing I could find on U-Turns was in chapter 5. I say that the U-turn was legal, but it's still considered a "left turn", since you're turning your wheel to the left, so the guy making the right turn has the right of way...
As a driver, I've always assumed the U-turner was last in priority on the right-of-way. What the law is, I don't know.
Walkin' home and I see tha G-ride Now Kat is drivin' Kilo on tha side As they busted a U they got pulled over A undercovered cop in a dark green Nova Now Kat got beat for resisting arrest He socked tha pig in tha head for rippin' his Guess Now he is caught for doing tha crime For defense on tha boy he'll do some time