Who Has the Right of Way?

It's a big issue you may not know about, but there is a scenario in driving that appears very uncommonly but causes quite a bit of confusion when an accident occurs. Suppose you are heading east and you are in the right turn lane to head south. Another car, heading north, made a wrong turn and is in the left turn lane to make a U-turn (assume that it is allowed at this intersection). The person making the U-turn has a green light (not a green turn arrow) and the person making a right turn has a red light and the 'No Right Turn on Red' sign is not lit. If both cars make the turn and collide, who is responsible? Refer to the visual representation below if you are confused.

What the Law Says

Well, laws vary widely based on your state and/or country. Some states completely forbid all U-turns to avoid these problems in the first place and I think that's a brilliant idea and others should follow along. Other states, including mine, don't really define which one would ultimately have the right of way. The problem is, no one thought of this scenario when writing the law books. By law, a right turn on red must to yield to all oncoming traffic that might interfere with the driver's direction of travel. For those of you who don't know, that includes all oncoming traffic. Just because the car is in the outermost lane doesn't mean you can go ahead and pull out into the closest lane, and just because they're in the closest lane doesn't mean you can cut them off and get into the outer lane. The oncoming driver may change lanes at any time within a certain distance from an intersection. If they do and you're there, it's still your fault. Now, the law says that a U-turn must yield to all traffic coming from the opposite direction that would interfere with the driver's direction of travel. Since a U-turn is merely a double left turn, only the opposing direction would have a green light when they do. So what's so confusing aobut this?

The Signaling Dilemma

When you're making a left turn or a U-turn, you're using your left turn signal. However, cars aren't equipped with separate signals to specify your intention to make a U-turn. The person sitting there waiting to make a right turn on red essentially has absolutely no idea if someone in the left turn lane is waiting to make a left turn or not. Some people suggest that the person wait until the left turn lane empties so that there are no cars that could possibly interfere with you, but that is not going to happen. The vast majority of cars in the left turn lane are going to be making a left turn and people are going to get extremely irritated having to wait all the time. After all, if this were required, why even have a right turn on red law in the first place? When the last car goes by, the person making the right turn will see that it's clear and begin to make their turn, but so will the car making the U-turn. So now what happens?

The Ultimate Outcome

Probably nothing. After all, it takes a lot more time to make a U-turn than it does to make a right turn. The chances that the two cars will collide are very slim. The person making the right turn will likely be positioned where they are already around one third the way around the corner. By the time the person making the U-Turn gets to the position where they're entering the lane, the car making a right turn will be well in front and out of the way. So this really comes down to the car behind (if there is one) watching out for traffic and seeing that the other car is currently in the process of making a U-turn and that they will need to wait. Causing a collision in this scenario should be quite difficult. If it does occur, the person making the right turn will, unfortunately, be held responsible for the flaws of the automobile and legal system not taking into account the proper scenarios of the road.