Comment by cge
4 days ago
As far as I know, that is both legal and standard practice in California, and at many intersections with traffic and no protected turn, is in practice the only possible way to turn left: there will simply never be a break in traffic, from the moment the light turns green until it turns red, and so without entering the intersection and then turning on red, it is simply not possible to turn left at all.
They even teach you to do this in driver's ed. I know HN skews "rules are rigid" but this one should be known by everyone.
In parts of Europe the practice itself is even rigid, with markings for where in the intersection your car is supposed to be while waiting to turn.