BELLINGHAM — So you drove into an intersection but realized that you need to be in a different lane soon. Are you allowed to change lanes in the middle of the intersection? Or do you have to wait until you clear the intersection in order to change lanes?
Here’s what Washington law and the State Patrol have to say.
State law does contain a section on lane changes, although it’s relatively vague. According to the law, you should drive “as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane” and change lanes only when you’ve “first ascertained that such movement can be made with safety.”
That doesn’t expressly ban changing lanes in the middle of an intersection. But can law enforcement pull you over for making an unsafe lane change just because you changed lanes in an intersection? According to Washington State Patrol Trooper John Dattilo, in most cases the answer is no.
“Lane changes can be made on public roadways — unless specifically prohibited by traffic signs/signals — and therefore in intersections, so long as they can be accomplished safely,” Dattilo wrote in an email to McClatchy.
According to Dattilo, Washington State Patrol officers treat lane changes in an intersection the same way they’d treat any other lane change. That means you can still get pulled over in some cases.
“In the same way we stop people for unsafe lane changes in normal circumstances, if the lane change is done in an unsafe manner — no signal, merging with insufficient space causing another vehicle to take evasive action, et cetera — we can initiate a traffic stop,” Dattilo said.
That doesn’t mean you’re entirely in the clear, though.
Intersections present a different set of safety challenges, especially when you’re changing lanes. According to the Federal Highway Administration, crashes at intersections account for roughly half of all road-related injuries in the United States each year.
Unlike a normal lane change, when changing lanes in an intersection, you have to check for cars turning right. Additionally, lane changes at an intersection can be rushed — if you’re changing lanes to get into or out of a turn lane that’s approaching quickly, you might not have enough time to signal or properly check for other cars.
But as long as you have enough time and space to make a safe, controlled lane change, state law doesn’t care whether it’s done in an intersection or in the middle of a block.
