Left turn on a green arrow
Traffic lights · Left turn · Alberta Class 5 road test
Protected left turn; the oncoming car turns left at the same time
Watch the interactive demoHow to drive it
Left turn on a green arrow + an oncoming car turning left at the same time + a pedestrian at the west crosswalk + through traffic both ways waiting at red
In the correct demo, you yield to:
- Pedestrian on the crosswalk you're turning into — Your path crosses a crosswalk: yield to anyone using it. Not yielding to a pedestrian in a crosswalk is a critical error, an automatic fail on the road test.
Common mistakes
Turned too late, swinging into the oncoming car's path
Road test: 5 points — D6 Left turn - cuts corner/turns wide/lags
Nothing was hit this time (just 0.4 m apart at closest approach), but it still counts against you. A left turn should start once the rear of the car has cleared your approach's crosswalk and the car is still straight, keeping the arc to the right of the intersection's centre so you and the oncoming left-turner each keep to your own side; drive too far before turning sharply and the arc swings into the oncoming left-turner's path.
Watch this mistake →Turned too early, cutting the corner over the yellow line
Road test: 5 points — D6 Left turn - cuts corner/turns wide/lags
Nothing happened this time, but it still counts against you. Drive until the rear of the car has cleared your approach's crosswalk and the car is straight before turning left, keeping the arc to the right of the intersection's centre; turning as soon as you reach the stop line makes the arc cut across to the left of the intersection's centre, over the oncoming lanes and the yellow line, a head-on collision if a car is coming or waiting at its line.
Watch this mistake →Related scenarios
- Left turn on greenUnprotected left turn: wait in the intersection for oncoming traffic
- Left turn on green · clearing on the light changeWait in the intersection until the light changes; once oncoming traffic stops, clear the intersection