In praise of the OTHER left turn.

According to the law, there are two left turns that are legal for bikes, obviously one is turning from the left lane with the cars. The other one involves going straight through the intersection on green, stopping, turning and waiting for the other green.
I always thought that was silly.
But since last year I've been coming up Lincoln to go west on Montrose, when it's illegal to turn left, and that's a tight intersection.
So I've become a fan of the OTHER left turn.
I am frequently arriving at the end of the Lincoln green anyway, and Leavitt has a very short light. This especially has worked well since the fall when I usually have an empty trail-a-bike or trailer with me from the morning drop off.
Try it sometime on those difficult intersections where you're uncomfortable being in the middle of the intersection, I did, and I LIKED it.

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Permalink Reply by Chucko on October 22, 2009 at 2:52am

I always do that manor of left turn at the Lincoln/Montrose intersection. I usually play it by ear at other intersections though, depending upon if I can get across to the left turn lane or not. If traffic is heavy I'll go through and do the Other left turn.