The Beechmont Blitz
Stop turning into the universal turn lane. It's illegal and dangerous.
I do not know who needs to hear this, but:
You cannot turn out of a parking lot into the universal turn lane.
It is dangerous, and it is illegal. I am not going to pull up the code for you, as it’s pretty much illegal everywhere. I have found the code and it is complicated to explain and I’m not a lawyer, you’ll just have to trust me.
Every time I drive down Beechmont Avenue, which is basically my traffic artery, I will witness somebody doing this. There’s an entirely separate discussion about people inappropriately not taking the nearest lane. We can save that for another time.
What prompted this post was a lady gunning it and then bailing into the universal turn lane. I came to a complete stop (because I could) and I wanted to show her what a jerk she was being.
Stop doing the Beechmont Blitz.1
A helpful example:
And lastly, this is the real Blitz, the straight line with bail out option.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
Coining the phrase here.
Not to be pedantic, but in your helpful example, you have the green arrow turning out of the entrance to the parking lot, not the exit
Beechmont Avenue is a stroad (https://www.streetlightdata.com/what-is-a-stroad/), a coin of phrase created by Strong Town's Chuck Marohn to describe a dangerous kind of transportation corridor that incorporates elements of both streets (destinations) and roads (connecting to destinations - think of a highway).
They're very dangerous and while it may be illegal, I sympathize with the drivers who turn into the middle turn lane trying to navigate a left turn. The alternative is often to turn right and spend even more time trying to find a place to turn around.
One thing I noticed in Vancouver WA (where my son used to live) is that their main stroad used hardscaping to prevent left turns. They also provided frequent hardscaped turn lanes, where you could either turn left or do a U-turn.
I've turned into a complete traffic safety nerd in my older years. While that's not the focus of this Saturday's Neighborhood Summit, I expect to see a number of my fellow advocates there on Saturday. https://www.investinneighborhoods.org/neighborhood-summit/. The neighborhood engagement session looks especially interesting.