Turns, lanes, passing and parking
You are about to cross an intersection and plan to turn into a driveway just beyond it. When should you turn on your signal?
- When you are almost through the intersection. Correct answer
- Before you enter the intersection, so drivers see it early.
- Not at all if you see no other vehicles around you.
Why
The usual habit is to signal well ahead, at least 100 feet before a turn. The handbook makes a specific exception for a turn that comes shortly after you cross an intersection: the signal goes on when you are almost through the intersection, not before you enter it. Skipping the signal because the road looks empty is not allowed either. The handbook says to signal even when you do not see other vehicles, and it lists signaling before every turn and lane change and before pulling up to or away from the curb. Once you have made the turn, switch the signal off.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is When you are almost through the intersection.
The rule behind this one
Turns, lanes, passing and parking in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on turns, lanes, passing and parking
- Traffic lanes are often referred to by number. On a road with several lanes in your direction, which one is the Number 1 Lane?
- You are parked at the curb and about to pull out onto a street with several lanes in your direction. Which lane do the handbook's tips point you to?
- Coming from a two-way street, you turn left onto a one-way street that has three lanes going your way. In which lane may you finish the turn?
- You are coming up on the street where you meant to turn, but you are in the wrong lane and the lane beside you is full. What should you do?