Driving 101: Right turn vs left turn ... Red lights

A common annoyance I face driving in Maplewood is that drivers turning left onto Prospect from Tuscan seem to believe they have right of way over those turning right in the same direction (toward CHS). The problem is so prevalent that I checked a few times to see if right turn drivers have a yield sign. There is no yield sign. Is this just typical Maplewood zero GAF driving or am I missing something.

Also ... Red light means stop, right? I do most of my driving in Maplewood during student pick up & drop off times, and every day I see some knucklehead running a red light - not orange, red. Seriously?

People pull a jersey left even if you are going straight. That would be a T- bone, at best. You think the possibility of a side swipe concerns them? Puhlease.

vdfam said:

A common annoyance I face driving in Maplewood is that drivers turning left onto Prospect from Tuscan seem to believe they have right of way over those turning right in the same direction (toward CHS). The problem is so prevalent that I checked a few times to see if right turn drivers have a yield sign. There is no yield sign. Is this just typical Maplewood zero GAF driving or am I missing something.

That right turn has an island-separated lane with its own light. I tend to wait until it's all clear to take that left, but I can see how it could appear to be like an entrance lane that has a yield to the left-turners who actually do arrive onto Prospect Street first.

vdfam said:

A common annoyance I face driving in Maplewood is that drivers turning left onto Prospect from Tuscan seem to believe they have right of way over those turning right in the same direction (toward CHS). The problem is so prevalent that I checked a few times to see if right turn drivers have a yield sign. There is no yield sign. Is this just typical Maplewood zero GAF driving or am I missing something.

Also ... Red light means stop, right? I do most of my driving in Maplewood during student pick up & drop off times, and every day I see some knucklehead running a red light - not orange, red. Seriously?

Maybe they need a yield sign for the left hand turners? Not that it would help, what with the rolling stoppers and what not. Where I see safari rally theatrics is for people making a left on Valley & Vauxhaul towards Millburn. It’s like a “But by the grace of God there I go” situation.  

Funny you call that a Jersey Left. I grew up in Pittsburgh and there it is commonly called a Pittsburgh left, and it is accepted practice that the person going straight lets the person turning left go first which prevents the left turning person from holding up traffic behind them. I see people do this here a lot but because the person going straight doesn't like it, the person turning left has to speed through. I always try to take the left ahead of the person going straight but I feel like I'm taking my life into my hands so I've cut back on it unless I get flashed ahead or if I believe I can make it before the person coming straight. I feel like the Pittsburgh left speeds traffic up.

Jackson_Fusion said:

People pull a jersey left even if you are going straight. That would be a T- bone, at best. You think the possibility of a side swipe concerns them? Puhlease.

It’s accepted practice to form two lanes when exiting I-78 onto Vauxhall Road, just as it is on the South Street exit from the Schuylkill in Philadelphia. Inconveniently, not all drivers are local, a fact that calms me when someone exits in the middle of the ramp ahead of me — and makes me glad that statutes supersede practice in an attempt to keep left-turners from cutting in front of oncoming traffic.

DaveSchmidt said:

It’s accepted practice to form two lanes when exiting I-78 onto Vauxhall Road, just as it is on the South Street exit from the Schuylkill in Philadelphia. Inconveniently, not all drivers are local, a fact that calms me when someone exits in the middle of the ramp ahead of me — and makes me glad that statutes supersede practice in an attempt to keep left-turners from cutting in front of oncoming traffic.

Yeah, that is a difficult situation.  The law is clearly one thing and common practice something else entirely.  I wish the state would change the signage to reflect reality.

Imagine if everyone just formed a single file line. There would be carnage on 78.

not wide enough to legally be two lanes. 

Klinker said:

DaveSchmidt said:

It’s accepted practice to form two lanes when exiting I-78 onto Vauxhall Road, just as it is on the South Street exit from the Schuylkill in Philadelphia. Inconveniently, not all drivers are local, a fact that calms me when someone exits in the middle of the ramp ahead of me — and makes me glad that statutes supersede practice in an attempt to keep left-turners from cutting in front of oncoming traffic.

Yeah, that is a difficult situation.  The law is clearly one thing and common practice something else entirely.  I wish the state would change the signage to reflect reality.

Imagine if everyone just formed a single file line. There would be carnage on 78.

FYI: Here was insight from about 5 years ago from @dk50b :

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from: https://maplewood.worldwebs.com/forums/discussion/exit-50b?page=next&limit=30

dk50b

 Nov 22, 2013 at 4:20pm  Edited

As MOL's resident authority on this exit by virtue of my User Name, I agree that contacting NJ DOT, who owns the ramp, will probably result in a lot of striping that keeps it to one lane, or reduces it from two to one lane before the traffic light. Standard highway lanes have to be a minimum of 12' wide, and DOT would never allow a substandard situation to continue if they are aware of it. By the end of the ramp, it certainly isn't 25' feet wide. Accommodating a two lane turn onto Vauxhall would involve a complete reconfiguration of the entire ramp and intersection. That would bring in Union County as well, since they maintain Vauxhall. And yes, I act as if there's two lanes as well. 

oops, wrong intersection.

You are correct.  People making the right have the "right of way."  I've honked at more than a few cars that made the left in front of me.

As far as I am concerned, the NJ highway system is a lost cause.  If Trump designed a highway system, it would look a lot like ours.  The worst.

als4532 said:

Funny you call that a Jersey Left. I grew up in Pittsburgh and there it is commonly called a Pittsburgh left, and it is accepted practice that the person going straight lets the person turning left go first which prevents the left turning person from holding up traffic behind them. I see people do this here a lot but because the person going straight doesn't like it, the person turning left has to speed through. I always try to take the left ahead of the person going straight but I feel like I'm taking my life into my hands so I've cut back on it unless I get flashed ahead or if I believe I can make it before the person coming straight. I feel like the Pittsburgh left speeds traffic up.

Jackson_Fusion said:

People pull a jersey left even if you are going straight. That would be a T- bone, at best. You think the possibility of a side swipe concerns them? Puhlease.

The law is the person going straight has the right of way. The person turning left is supposed to wait to make their turn.