The in basket: Margaret Gibbard writes, “Two cars are turning onto the same road- which has the right of way – the right-on-red car or the left-on-blinking-yellow car?
The out basket: That’s an excellent question that hadn’t occurred to me. A left turner with a green light would have right of way, but the blinking yellow left turn signals require yielding to vehicles with a green light, which, of course, a right-on-red turner wouldn’t have. I had to ask Kitsap County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Wilson to sort it out for me.
“A left turn is one of the most dangerous movements a motorist makes,” Scott replied. “Left turn traffic signals are designed to let drivers know when to yield to oncoming traffic and when they have the right of way, but the variety of the signals that are in use can be confusing.
“The person who submitted this question asked specifically about which driver has the right of way when two cars approach from opposite sides of an intersection: a vehicle that is turning left has a flashing yellow arrow, while the other vehicle that is turning right has a red light.
“In this instance the car turning right has to come to a complete stop before proceeding. It must yield to any vehicles approaching from the left as well as any vehicles approaching from the opposite direction with a green left turn arrow or a flashing yellow arrow.
“The vehicle turning left on a flashing yellow arrow has the right of way over the car that’s stopped for the red signal, intending to turn right. The car with the flashing yellow arrow must proceed with caution and yield to any vehicles that are entering and passing through the intersection from the opposite direction.”
So I guess it depends on whether the right turner has gotten into the intersection already.
a