Turns, lanes, passing and parking
When may you turn left at a red light in California?
- Only when turning from a one-way street onto another one-way street, after stopping, if no sign prohibits it. Correct answer
- Whenever there is no oncoming traffic.
- Never; left turns on red are always prohibited.
Why
Right turns on red are the familiar case, but California also allows one kind of left turn on red: from a one-way street onto a one-way street. The logic is that you are not crossing any oncoming lane, only joining traffic that flows the same way. Even then you must stop first, check for a sign prohibiting the turn, yield to vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians who have the green light, and look both ways before going. On a two-way street a left turn on red is never allowed, no matter how empty the road looks. And a red arrow forbids the turn entirely, in every situation.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, DL 600 ENGLISH (REV. 6/2025). The correct answer is Only when turning from a one-way street onto another one-way street, after stopping, if no sign prohibits it..