Annoyed by dawdling drivers? Kansas needs to rewrite rules on how to make a left turn
We’ve all been there.
You pull up to a red light behind a car planning to make a left turn.
And when the light turns green, the driver in front of you just sits there, waiting for an opening in the oncoming traffic to make their move.
You want them to creep up into the middle of the intersection and get prepared for that turn.
But they just sit there. Maybe you even give them a tap on the horn to get them going.
And still they sit. And sit. And sit.
Finally, the light turns yellow.
Oncoming traffic stops coming and the driver in front of you finally scoots through the intersection, leaving you to wait for the next cycle of the light.
Infuriating, isn’t it?
Well, you may be mad at the wrong people. That annoying driver in front of you might just be following Kansas law.
This column originally started out as more or less a rant about people who clog the streets by not getting into position to turn left, which confuses oncoming motorists, slows traffic flow and generally creates headaches for anyone with the misfortune of being behind them.
I was going to urge those dawdling drivers to get it in gear so we could get more than one left-hand turn accomplished per light cycle and keep the traffic moving. That, or if they couldn’t master how to make an efficient left turn, just go on to the next block and make three right turns to get in the direction they want to be going.
I figured the people who need that advice might be a little more inclined to listen to someone who’s actually in a position of authority, so I put the question to the media spokesperson for the Department of Motor Vehicles in an e-mail.
She kicked it upstairs to DMV Director David Harper. His conclusion was that not only is it legal to stay put when the light changes, Kansas law and the state Driver’s Manual appear to actually encourage it.
Two sections from the manual are in play here.
“Turning left at a steady green traffic light means you may turn but only when the intersection is clear to do so.”
And . . .
“Do not enter an intersection . . . unless there is sufficient space on the other side for your vehicle. Even though you may have a green light, you may not enter an intersection if there isn’t room to get all the way across.”
Harper’s conclusion: “a driver should not enter an intersection (until) there is clearance to get all the way through.”
I bounced this off John Carmichael, lawyer and legislator, and he said he thinks the DMV’s conclusion is wrong.
His read is that the section of law about not entering the intersection until you can get all the way through isn’t about left turns at all, but about not getting stuck in an intersection and blocking cross traffic when a street is backed up to the next light or farther.
A little clarity is in order here.
This isn’t just some quirky Kansas thing like making a big deal out of a hand-dug well or mispronouncing El Dorado.
If you can’t enter an intersection to prepare for a left turn, it’s a recipe for gridlock in every urban area of the state.
And it’s not just a me thing, as evidenced by this recent exchange between two commenters on the Facebook page Wichita Bad Drivers 2.0:
“You cannot legally creep into the intersection if the light is a round green light and there are cars coming, but there is no cop in the world who will write you for that, as everyone does it.”
“The only ticket I’ve ever received was for this. So I wouldn’t say that no cop would write it. And I’m a cop.”
So, Kansas Legislature, your work is cut out for you: make your first bill of next year’s session a law clarifying that drivers should move into an intersection to get ready to make a left turn.
I understand you shouldn’t have to legislate common sense.
But sometimes, there’s just no choice.
This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
