CA Left Turn Laws

[ethomas]

I have a friend who recently got in an accident while making a left turn. I have two questions, the first being about the general laws of left turns in California, and the second as just an opinion question as to whose fault an LEO would say the accident was.

1. I know that in CA, people routinely roll past the two crosswalk lines on an intersection while preparing to make a left turn, thus positioning themselves about 1/3 of the way through the intersection, and then wait for a clear moment to proceed. Is this actually legal? I've always seen it done, and was taught during drivers education that it was, but my friend who got in the crash says that her insurance company said it was illegal? Do you technically have to wait behind the crosswalk lines until you see a clear moment to turn?

2. When the light was green, my friend Rachel rolled past the two crosswalk lines, positioning herself about 1/3 the way into the intersection, as most people do. She then waited for a clear moment to turn. As she waited there, there was enough traffic that no break in cars appeared while the light was green, so she waited as it turned yellow, and she saw the wall of cars moving in the opposite direction of her slow down preparing to stop at the line. Yet one car who had already began slowing down then though that he could make the light, and proceeded to rapidly accelerate into the intersection. Rachel had begun turning right as the light turned from yellow to red, and at that point she had already seen the wall of cars before her slowing down to a stop, but didn't notice that in the 2 seconds between her observation of them slowing down and her imminent crash, the other car had gunned it. The light turned red as the other car was still about 10 feet behind the first crosswalk line, so he definitely ran the red light, which then resulted in the two having a relatively head-on collision since the two cars were angled just every so slightly. They then exchanged info, and contacted their insurance companies. From an LEOs knowledge, was Rachel's positioning of her car for the left turn legal? And if or if not, who would be at fault, in an LEO's opinion?