Signaling, Turns, U-Turns, and Guam's Center Left-Turn Lane

Signaling, Turns, U-Turns, and Guam's Center Left-Turn Lane

Quick Answer: Signal 100 feet before a turn, and longer if you must change lanes first. Right turns are made from and completed in the extreme right-hand lane; left turns start from the extreme left portion of your side of the road and finish in the closest proper left lane. Guam's marked center lane is a left-turn lane only, never a passing lane. A U-turn is illegal wherever your car cannot be seen for 300 feet in either direction, and on a two-way street in a business or residential district unless it is made at least 100 feet from an intersection where signs allow it.

Before you move: the signal duty

Sec. 3324(a) attaches to three movements: starting, stopping, and turning from a direct line. Before any of them you must first see that the movement can be made in safety. If a pedestrian may be affected, you must give a clearly audible warning signal. If the driver of any other vehicle approaching or following may reasonably be affected, you must give a signal that is plainly visible to that driver.

• Distance. The handbook, which is the stated source of every test question, says to signal for 100 feet before turning, and to signal for a longer distance when you must change lanes to make the turn properly. (Sec. 3324 itself sets no footage; it requires the signal to be visible and given in time to inform other drivers, so the 100-foot figure is the number to carry into the exam.)
• Method. Hand and arm, signal lights, or a mechanical signal device (Sec. 3324(b)). Lights or a mechanical device become mandatory when the distance from the center of the top of the steering post to the left outside limit of the body, cab, or load exceeds 24 inches, or when the distance from the steering post to the rear limit of the body exceeds 14 feet. A load that would hide a hand signal from either the front or the rear also forces lights (Sec. 3324(c)).
• Hand-and-arm signals, given from the driver's side of the vehicle (Sec. 3324(d)):

Two habits the road examiner watches for: cancel the signal once the turn is finished, and signal one action at a time, in the order you will perform it, so a stop followed by a turn is signaled as the stop first, then the turn.

Right turns

Both the approach for a right turn and the turn itself must be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway (Sec. 3321(a)). In lane terms, unless signs or pavement markings clearly permit a right turn from more than one lane, the turn is made from the extreme right-hand lane after signaling for 100 feet, and it must be completed in the extreme right-hand lane of the road you are entering. Do not swing wide into the second lane to set up the corner; on Guam's narrow secondary roads that habit puts you into a lane you cannot see.

Right turn against a red light is permitted only after you have come to a full stop, only when no posted sign prohibits the turn, only from the extreme right-hand lane, and only when traffic and pedestrians permit.

Left turns

• On a two-way roadway (Sec. 3321(b)): approach in the portion of the right half of the roadway nearest the center line, pass to the right of that center line as you enter the intersection, and leave the intersection to the right of the center line of the roadway you are entering.
• On a one-way roadway (Sec. 3321(c)): approach in the left-hand lane lawfully available to traffic moving your direction, and leave the intersection, as nearly as practicable, in the left-hand lane available on the roadway you enter.
• Wait and watch at the turning point until it is safe to complete the turn, and never begin a turn you cannot finish.
• Cutting the corner, which drops you into the oncoming half of the road you are entering, is the classic left-turn fault and an easy road-test deduction.
• The Chief of Police may place markers, buttons, or signs at an intersection that allocate more than one turning lane or dictate the path; where those exist, they control over the general rule (Sec. 3321(d)).

Guam's center lane: a left-turn lane, not a passing lane

An odd number of traffic lanes is a standardized roadway design on Guam, and the handbook is blunt about that middle lane's reputation: it has been called the "Suicide Lane" and the "Kamikaze Run" because of how it gets misused. Its lawful function is narrow.

• It is a LEFT TURN lane, used only for turning left into or out of traffic.
• It is not to be used for passing.
• It is not a safety zone or refuge for pedestrians; the handbook calls using it as a walkway not merely illegal but positively suicidal.
• Where a center lane exists, it must be used for all left turns.
• Always signal your intent to turn left, and do not turn your wheels until it is safe to execute the full turn. If you are struck from behind or in front with the wheels already turned, the impact sends you straight into oncoming traffic.
• Take extra caution both entering and exiting the lane.

Do not confuse that lane with the separate statutory rule for a three-lane road that has no designated turn lane (Sec. 3314(b)): there, the center lane may be used only to overtake where the roadway ahead is clearly visible and the lane is clear of traffic within a safe distance, in preparation for a left turn, or where the lane is signposted as allocated to your direction of travel.

U-turns

The law describes a U-turn as a turn made so as to proceed in the opposite direction. Guam prohibits it in six situations:

Add the divided-highway rule, which covers Guam's main routes: on a highway divided into two or more roadways by intermittent barriers or by a dividing section at least two feet wide, you may not make a left turn, a semicircular turn, or a U-turn except through an opening designed and intended for vehicle use, or through a plainly marked opening in the dividing section (Sec. 3309(c)).

Keep the two distances straight, because swapping them is a standard exam error. 300 feet is a sight-distance test that applies on curves and hills. 100 feet is a setback from an intersection that applies on two-way streets in business and residential districts. When a U-turn is questionable, the handbook's own advice is the safest answer: drive around the block.