Cape Coral police ‘Traffic Tuesdays’: Who has the right of way with a U-Turn?

For Cape Coral Police Department’s “Traffic Tuesday” they touch on U-Turns and who has the right-of-way in these situations.

Let’s start with what the Florida state statute says:

316.1515 Limitations on turning around. — The driver of any vehicle shall not turn the vehicle so as to proceed in the opposite direction upon any street unless such movement can be made in safety and without interfering with other traffic and unless such movement is not prohibited by posted traffic control signs.

What does this mean?

No one can turn their car in a u-turn fashion interfering with traffic unless such movement is not prohibited by posted traffic control signs. If you are a driver on another roadway with a red light or a stop sign, you must yield to the person making the u-turn.

One Cape Coral police officer says they’ve heard at least a thousand times. “I stopped before making my right on red”. That is true, but you have a traffic control device that you have to obey. The person making the u-turn does not have a traffic control device and has the right of way. This may be hard for some people to understand until they have to make a u-turn and expect the right of way. In the diagram below, the driver with the red arrow has the right of way if he has a green arrow or light. The driver with the green arrow has to make sure it is clear from all directions before they can make the right on red legally. This is usually the case. Sometimes there are traffic signs saying that the driver making the u-turn has to yield to a vehicle making a right turn.

Now you know.