Can I Turn Left Across Yellow Lines Into a Driveway?

Everyone knows that you can turn left and right at intersections, but you might wonder if you can also turn left across yellow lines into a driveway, for example.

The rules about this may be different depending on where in the world, country, province, state we are talking about. For Beautiful British Columbia, read more about it here.

So, can I turn left across yellow lines?

The short answer: Maybe 

I hate to be annoying, but this isn’t quite a yes or no answer. If I simply told you yes or no, I might be lying.

From the ICBC Drive Smart manual

Don’t take it from me, read it from ICBC itself. The following is from the ICBC Learn to Drive Smart manual.

Turns in the middle of a block

Notice how it doesn’t say ‘Do not turn left’ when it’s talking about the road lines.

Turn left across yellow lines

Here is a video of some left turns that are perfectly fine & legal

You can also reverse out of your driveway over lines

as long as you determine it’s safe

Should you, though?

The next question of course is, well, should you do it? I mean, we can send a bunch of humans to the moon to start a new colony there… but… should we? It’s questions for the universe.

Personally I just stick to turning at intersections whenever I can. This is because I know that other drivers will expect me to be there. Turning left across yellow lines could potentially be dangerous.

Lately I’m just not in the mood for any extra hassle.

And often, you can ask yourself if there’s a better way. This can be done with planning your route in advance to include only intersection turns. Or, to include a right turn rather than a left one.

Consider, too, that any resulting collision would more than likely be at least half your fault. Left turns really get the shaft when it comes to ICBC fault claims. Just something to think about.

Carmen

Hey, I’m Carmen, a being from Earth who has loved cars & driving for many moons. I became an ICBC GLP (graduated licensing program) driving instructor at the age of 22 in North Vancouver, Canada. The beautiful ‘North Shore’ was such a dream location. I’ve been working on this here website since 2012 when I created it.