U-turns at intersections

[Captain Awesome]

Can somebody clear this up for sure? I see people doing it all the time. Apparently different cities and provinces have different rules, what are the rules in BC?



1. Is it legal to make a U-turn at an intersection?

2. Is it legal to make a U-turn at an intersection with red light?

Bonus: Is it legal to make a U-turn at an intersection while listening to ABBA?

[my5cents]

1. Yes and No

2. No.


There are two types of legislation that prohibits or permits U-Turns, also called "Reverse Turns". The Motor Vehicle Act of BC and each municipalities own traffic bylaw. In the small towns in the Okanagan, including Kelowna they rely on the provisions of the MVA of BC only, none that I am aware of restrict U-Turns in their bylaws.

So you are stuck with what the MVA of BC says.

And it says :

Reverse turn
168 Except as provided by the bylaws of a municipality or the laws of a treaty first nation, a driver must not turn a vehicle so as to proceed in the opposite direction

(a) unless the driver can do so without interfering with other traffic, or,

(b) when he or she is driving

(i) on a curve,

(ii) on an approach to or near the crest of a grade where the vehicle cannot be seen by the driver of another vehicle approaching from either direction within 150 m,

(iii) at a place where a sign prohibits making a U-turn,

(iv) at an intersection where a traffic control signal has been erected, or

(v) in a business district, except at an intersection where no traffic control signal has been erected.

You can see that subsection "iv" prohibits a U-Turn at an intersection controled by a traffic light, no matter what color the light is at the time of the U-Turn.

I know what you are talking about. You've seen vehicles execute U-Turns on major downtown streets at intersections with traffic lights. They do so as though they own the road.

They either know the law in BC and have so much money they don't care, but more likely they are from a jurisdiction that permits such a turn. Many US states allow this.

In the City of Vancouver for example, their Street and Traffic Bylaw restricts U-Turns, such that the only place you can legally make one, between the rules set out in the Vancouver Bylaw and the BC MVA, is at an intersection that is completely uncontrolled, not in a business district, not near a curve or a hill and can be done in one motion.

In Kelowna you can legally U-Turn mid block, except in a business district, where it must be at an intersection with no light. In Vancouver, for example, the only place you can make a U-Turn is at an intersection

Excerpt from Vancouver's Street and Traffic Bylaw 2849 :

LIMITATIONS ON "U" OR REVERSE TURNING
38. (1) No driver of any vehicle shall turn such vehicle so as to proceed in the opposite direction:
(a) On any through street.
(b) Within an intersection at any corner of which a "Stop" sign has been placed, or where a traffic-control signal has been installed.
(c) At any other intersection unless such movement can be made in safety, without backing, and without interfering with other traffic.
(d) On any street between intersecting streets.
(e) At any lane intersection.

[Steve-O]

CA. What you posted is entirely legal...providing such a maneuver is completed in an orange 1969 Dodge Charger in four wheel drift with a voice over stating "dem boys are in a heap of trouble!".

[zzontar]

http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/Do ... ivers4.pdf

U-turns
If you fi nd you are going in the wrong direction, you may be
tempted to make a U-turn. U-turns are often risky. They are
illegal:
• if they interfere with other traffi c
• on a curve
• on or near the crest of a hill, where you cannot be seen by
other traffi c within 150 metres
• where a sign prohibits U-turns
• at an intersection where there is a traffi c light
• in a business district, except at an intersection where there is
no traffi c light
• where a municipal by-law prohibits making a U-turn.
When you are deciding whether to make a U-turn, think about
some alternatives, like driving around the block or continuing
on to a side road where you can turn more safely.