Can You Turn Left on a Straight Green Light?
3 Answers
Whether you can turn left on a straight green light depends on the situation. Situations where turning is allowed: At an intersection with standard three-color traffic lights, you can turn left on a green light, but you must yield to oncoming straight-moving vehicles. Situations where turning is not allowed: When encountering lane-specific arrow signals, if the straight arrow is green but the left-turn arrow is red, you cannot turn left, but you may enter the left-turn waiting area. Vehicles in the left-turn lane can proceed when the left arrow turns green. Relevant regulations are as follows: Article 38 of the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China" (State Council Order No. 405) states: For motor vehicle and non-motor vehicle signal lights, when the yellow light is on, vehicles that have already crossed the stop line may continue to proceed; when the green light is on, vehicles are permitted to proceed, but turning vehicles must not impede the passage of straight-moving vehicles or pedestrians. When the red light is on, vehicles are prohibited from proceeding. At intersections without non-motor vehicle or pedestrian crosswalk signals, non-motor vehicles and pedestrians should follow the motor vehicle signal lights. When the red light is on, right-turning vehicles may proceed if they do not impede the passage of other vehicles or pedestrians.
I was thinking about this while driving yesterday. Generally speaking, when the straight-through light is green, whether you can turn left depends on the situation. If it's a green light with a circular icon, theoretically you can turn left, but you must make sure there are no oncoming vehicles and no pedestrians crossing the zebra crossing. Some intersections have dedicated left-turn arrow signals—in that case, you must wait until the left-turn arrow turns green before proceeding. New drivers often get confused about this. A friend of mine once tried to turn left on a green light and almost hit a pedestrian, getting lectured by a traffic cop for quite a while. Remember, it's better to wait an extra ten seconds than to rush that half-press of the accelerator—safety is more important than anything else.
It depends on the traffic light design at the intersection. When a solid circular green light is on, left turns are generally permitted, but you must follow the yielding rules: give priority to vehicles going straight and pedestrians. Nowadays, many cities have installed traffic lights with directional arrows – when the red left-turn arrow is lit, you absolutely cannot turn left even if the straight-through signal is green. Last week at that six-way downtown intersection, I saw a car forcing a left turn against the red arrow and getting caught by the traffic camera. Always check for additional indicator lights above the lane before turning – such details often determine whether you'll get penalized or not.
