New York · Handbook chapter 3 · 6 min read

Chapter 3: Intersections and turns

New York right-of-way rules, emergency vehicles and the Move Over Law, blue, green and amber lights, signaling 100 feet ahead, lane position for every kind of turn, U-turns and the three-point turn.

Why this chapter matters

The manual notes that most crashes happen at intersections when a driver is turning, and many happen in big parking lots. Right-of-way questions test whether you know who waits, not just who goes.

Right-of-way rules

Signs and lights do not settle every conflict. A green light, for example, does not tell you whether the car turning left or the car going straight goes first. These rules do:

• Traffic already in the intersection goes first. If a car is completing a left turn as your light turns green, let it finish.
• Left turns yield. When two drivers arrive from opposite directions at about the same time, the one turning left yields to traffic going straight or turning right. This also applies when you turn left into a driveway or parking lot, even with no signs. For any left turn, yield to oncoming traffic close enough to be a hazard.
• Waiting to turn left: if the light is green and no one ahead of you is turning left, you may pull into the intersection to wait. Keep to the right of the center line and keep your wheels straight, so a hit from behind does not push you into oncoming traffic.
• Driver on the left yields to the driver on the right at uncontrolled intersections, or when two drivers at right angles stop at STOP signs at the same time.
• Entering from a driveway, private road or other non-road place: stop and yield to traffic on the road and to pedestrians.
• Pedestrians in a marked or unmarked crosswalk have the right-of-way. If a pedestrian has stepped into the crosswalk before your light turns green, wait for them to cross.
• Do not block the box. Do not enter an intersection unless you can get all the way through it. Watch for offset intersections and cross streets so you do not cause gridlock.
• Traffic circles and rotaries: traffic already in the circle has the right-of-way.

Having the right-of-way is not an absolute right. Waiting a few seconds is better than risking a crash.

Emergency vehicles

Fire, ambulance, police and other authorized emergency vehicles on an emergency call show flashing red, red and blue, or red and white lights, and may sound a siren or air-horn. Police, sheriff and State Trooper vehicles do not always use a siren.

• When one approaches from any direction, pull over to the right edge of the road and stop until it passes. This applies even when it is in the opposite lane of a two-way road.
• If you are in an intersection, drive out of it first, then pull over.
• If you hear a siren close by but cannot tell where it is, pull over and stop until you are sure it is not heading your way.

Move Over Law

When an emergency or hazard vehicle is stopped on the shoulder or any part of the road with its emergency, amber or blue-and-amber lights on, you must take care to avoid it and slow down on any road. On parkways, interstates and other multi-lane controlled-access roads, you must also move out of the lane next to it unless it is unsafe. The law also covers vehicles with blue or green lights, and any vehicle stopped on the shoulder of a parkway or controlled-access highway. A violation is a moving violation.

Blue, green and amber lights

These are not authorized emergency vehicles, and their drivers must obey traffic laws. You are not required to yield to them, but you should as a courtesy when it is safe.

Turns

• Signal every turn or lane change at least 100 feet ahead, with turn lights or hand signals. When possible, signal before you start braking.
• Slow down, check all around, and look carefully for motorcycles, pedestrians, bicyclists, moped riders, wheelchair users and people with strollers.
• Keep your wheels straight until you actually begin to turn.
• Your rear wheels track inside the front wheels, closer to the curb on a right turn and closer to oncoming traffic on a left turn.

Lane position

U-turns

• Avoid U-turns on highways. Use a parking lot or driveway instead, and try to rejoin the road moving forward, not backing.
• Make a U-turn only from the left part of the lane nearest the center line, never from the right lane. A green left-arrow lets you U-turn too, if allowed and you yield.
• Illegal: near the top of a hill, on a curve, or anywhere other drivers cannot see you from 500 feet in either direction; in New York City business districts; where NO U-TURN signs are posted; on a limited access expressway, even where paths cross the median; and in a school zone.

Three-point turn

Used to turn around on a narrow two-way street, and possibly part of your road test:

1. Signal right, pull over to the right and stop. Then signal left and check traffic in all directions.
2. Turn left across the road and stop facing the left curb or edge.
3. Check traffic, turn the wheel fully right, look behind you and back up, stopping before the right curb or edge.
4. Check traffic again, turn the wheel fully left and pull forward to finish.