Is it legal to make a right hand turn from the middle land onto a one way road after stopping? I was under the impression that only the far right hand lane is allowed to make the right hand turn, even if the middle lane is designated to make right hand turns as well.


Am I understanding the below transportation code correctly?

SUBCHAPTER C. TURNING AND SIGNALS FOR STOPPING AND TURNING
Sec.545.101. TURNING AT INTERSECTION.
(a)To make a right turn at an intersection, an operator shall make both the approach and the turn as closely as practicable to the right- and curb or edge of the roadway.

Exactly right. Right turn on red can only be made from the right-most lane (substitute left for right as well).

We are currently considering mitigation options at FM 529 and US 290 concerning this very situation. You'll see signs posted occassionally that read "Right Turn on Red from Right Lane Only", but these are few and far between.

Actually, you may be asking something different than what I posted. If the approach is signed/striped as such, than it is perfectly legal to make a right turn out of the appropriately signed lanes (far-right or middle as you call it). But you may ONLY turn right on red from the right-most lane. Hope that clears it up...

make sure theres no mexicans coming through the crosswalk when you do it.... oh wait, thats just me.

The road has 4 lanes, two of which are signed and stripped for the right two lanes to turn right into 3 lanes. The far/inside right lane is stripped to turn into the far/inside right lane, and the right middle lane is stripped to turn into either the middle lane or the left lane. The sign does NOT say right turn on red from right lane only. Is this the same situation?

i had this problem one day. i was in the far right lane making a right on red. a guy was in the middle line which is designated to go straight or turn right. i made my turn on red and proceeded to move over into the far left lane after my turn. this guy gets super pissed that i cut him off. i didn't really see that he was turning on red. it is my impression that he made an illegal turn thus negating his right of way. had the light been green, it would have been up to me to wait for him to pass before i moved over.

what say you tine board?

[This message has been edited by Lazlo Hollyfeld (edited 6/29/2009 8:38a).]

This reminds me of the turn onto 61st street on Galveston. I always turn right on red from the middle lane, as does everyone in front of and behind me. But it's Galveston.

AN- Hey, while you are at it looking at 529 and 290, could you add some paint to the inbound feeder just up the road at Jones and 290. The feeder has three lanes both before and after the stop light. The left most lane can either turn left or go straight. I assume that this means that the center lane MUST go straight, or someone is getting T-Boned.

The problem is that there are two lanes under the highway. When the left lane backs up, and for Houston it is not bad at all, some impatient idiot pulls up in the middle lane and cuts across traffic on a green light. Hopefully a couple signs can clear it up, or at least indicate who is at fault in the inevitable accident.

I turn right onto the 59 feeder road from the second to right lane at Greenbriar all the time. It's a right turn only lane.

At that location, if you can't turn right out of the 2nd lane, then I'll be cutting across a double white line to get to the far right lane. Which is worse?

Coming off 59 South into Downtown where it dead ends into the Astro's ballpark, it's set up where both lanes can turn right on red.

Well, I've turned right on red from the middle lane and I think it's set up where I can do so legally with a sign showing both lane arrows going right.

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Coming off 59 South into Downtown where it dead ends into the Astro's ballpark, it's set up where both lanes can turn right on red.

Well, I've turned right on red from the middle lane and I think it's set up where I can do so legally with a sign showing both lane arrows going right.

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This is illegal and there is a sign saying as much!

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=29.758712,-95.354529&spn=0,359.998927&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=29.758806,-95.354571&panoid=FieNnptYxa3irlg8P1laPQ&cbp=12,215.11,,0,10.62

The sign above the "one way" sign says "right turn on red from right lane only"

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i had this problem one day. i was in the far right lane making a right on red. a guy was in the middle line which is designated to go straight or turn right. i made my turn on red and proceeded to move over into the far left lane after my turn. this guy gets super pissed that i cut him off. i didn't really see that he was turning on red. it is my impression that he made an illegal turn thus negating his right of way. had the light been green, it would have been up to me to wait for him to pass before i moved over.

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You are exactly right. You were the only one legally making that right-turn and thus are afforded the luxury of changing lanes once on the Frontage Road.

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The road has 4 lanes, two of which are signed and stripped for the right two lanes to turn right into 3 lanes. The far/inside right lane is stripped to turn into the far/inside right lane, and the right middle lane is stripped to turn into either the middle lane or the left lane. The sign does NOT say right turn on red from right lane only. Is this the same situation?

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Somewhat... however, the lack of a sign does not make the right-on-red from the shared lane legal. Right-turn on red can be made legally from only the outside lane regardless of the presence of a sign prohibiting it from the shared lane.

What about at I-10 and Studemont? I turn right on red from that other right turn lane all the time...illegal?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=I-10+and+Studemont&sll=29.775972,-95.387839&sspn=0.004628,0.009645&ie=UTF8&radius=0.29&filter=0&rq=1&ll=29.775972,-95.387839&spn=0,359.990355&z=17&layer=c&cbll=29.776315,-95.389636&panoid=OzNedYLrs4kZp61KzO-_UA&cbp=12,98.19,,0,2.4

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What about at I-10 and Studemont? I turn right on red from that other right turn lane all the time...illegal?

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Right-turn on red can be made legally from only the outside lane regardless of the presence of a sign prohibiting it from the shared lane.

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Actually HouAggie... look at that link...

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What about at I-10 and Studemont? I turn right on red from that other right turn lane all the time...illegal?

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The link you posted is of two dedicated channelized right-turn lanes that have yield control. This is a different situation as the traffic signal does not control the right-turns. You are legal in your case but you are not technically making a "right-on-red"... you're simply making a right turn from a yield condition. The traffic signal is moot.

so, AN...even though there are 2 dedicated right turn only lanes, only the outermost lane is legal to turn on whilst a red light?

Correct, if both lanes are stop controlled by the traffic signal.

Yeah, I shoulda clicked the link. Seems fairly self-explanatory once I looked at it.

Wow, if that's the case, then the police could make their quota for traffic violations in a single day!

I'll shed some light as to the reasoning of this:

Right-turn-on-red works safely because a car is trying to find a gap in one lane of through travel to turn into. This is no different than pulling out in traffic and turning right from an uncontrolled driveway.

However, if a car was to turn right on red from a shared (or exclusive) right-turn lane that is NOT the outside most lane, the car must succesfully find a gap in AT LEAST TWO through lanes to make the turn into their designated lane on the Frontage Road or receiving road. Finding a gap in at least two through lanes is tough and can lead to sight distance issues with a car blocking the view of another car that is parallel to them. You may think you have a gap in both lanes only to pull out and get T-boned by a car you never saw.

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Wow, if that's the case, then the police could make their quota for traffic violations in a single day!

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True... but this is a tough one to enforce and also the reason why so many people don't even know it is against the law. I've seen two accidents directly related to this though... at the Willowbrook Mall exit onto FM 1960 at Willow Chase... there is a right-turn only lane and a shared through/right-turn lane. Two different times I've seen someone turn right-on-red from the shared lane and try to turn into their designated lane on eastbound FM 1960 right before the RR tracks and get t-boned from an eastbound through car. There's no signs at this location but in my opinion there definitely should be.

I do this all the time off feeder lanes onto large roads with 2 right turn lanes. I also do this at Greenbriar and 59 all the time as well.

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We are currently considering mitigation options at FM 529 and US 290 concerning this very situation.

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Ooops. I turn right from that middle lane all the time.

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AN- Hey, while you are at it looking at 529 and 290, could you add some paint to the inbound feeder just up the road at Jones and 290. The feeder has three lanes both before and after the stop light. The left most lane can either turn left or go straight. I assume that this means that the center lane MUST go straight, or someone is getting T-Boned.

The problem is that there are two lanes under the highway. When the left lane backs up, and for Houston it is not bad at all, some impatient idiot pulls up in the middle lane and cuts across traffic on a green light. Hopefully a couple signs can clear it up, or at least indicate who is at fault in the inevitable accident.

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I hate this part of that intersection so hard.

[This message has been edited by ada8356 (edited 6/30/2009 10:00a).]

There's about to be a sign up that explicitly states to not do this on red (at 529 and 290). And a word of warning... there may start to be increased police presence at this very intersection to look for this...

[This message has been edited by Anagrammatic Nudist (edited 6/30/2009 10:00a).]

who would patrol that AN?

JVPD? State Trooper?

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Hopefully a couple signs can clear it up, or at least indicate who is at fault in the inevitable accident.

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There would be no question who is at fault should an officer see this situation. Worth a look though, we are converting the timings there to a new controller so we can also look at safety mitigation there as well.

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who would patrol that AN?

JVPD? State Trooper?

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Not exactly sure, but I would assume that either agency could. All I know is that it has been requested to TxDOT (from citizens) to patrol that situation more... and they have been (with motorcycles under the overpass). Just not sure the exact agency though.

I've been honked at before for refusing to make the RT from the middle lane at 529 and 290 on a red. Grrr.


To me, it's common sense. ESPECIALLY if the right lane guy has the option of going straight.

I've seen the same thing happen with morons making left turns out of middle lanes on underpasses when the left lane has a turn or straight option....

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(d) An operator of a vehicle facing only a steady red signal shall stop at a clearly marked stop line. In the absence of a stop line, the operator shall stop before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection. A vehicle that is not turning shall remain standing until an indication to proceed is shown. After stopping, standing until the intersection may be entered safely, and yielding right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully in an adjacent crosswalk and other traffic lawfully using the intersection, the operator may:

(1) turn right; or

(2) turn left, if the intersecting streets are both one-way streets and a left turn is permissible.

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Nowhere does this say that a right on red is permissible from the far right-lane only.
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/SOTWDocs/TN/htm/TN.544.htm
[edit to add link]

[This message has been edited by Ag83 (edited 6/30/2009 12:25p).]

545.101 says "(a) To make a right turn at an intersection, an operator shall make both the approach and the turn as closely as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway."
Unfortunately, this says nothing about a red light, so to apply this to every second turn lane at a red light would also mean turning right from the second lane on green is illegal.
I do agree that it may not always be safe to turn on red, with poor visibility or drivers who don't know the law, but it appears to be legal.

Waited 12 years to chime in?

Hey. If you want to bump something old, try this

MouthBQ98 said:

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I've been honked at before for refusing to make the RT from the middle lane at 529 and 290 on a red. Grrr.


To me, it's common sense. ESPECIALLY if the right lane guy has the option of going straight.

I've seen the same thing happen with morons making left turns out of middle lanes on underpasses when the left lane has a turn or straight option....

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If the right lane guy "has the option of going straight" then the second lane should not have the option of turning right under any circumstances.

Haha, take that past!