A study to examine driver behavior in permitted left turns
has identified what researchers call an “alarming” level of risk to pedestrians
crossing the street – about 4-9 percent of the time, drivers don’t even bother
to look and see if there are pedestrians in their way.
As opposed to a “protected” left turn, in which a solid
green arrow gives a driver the complete right of way in a left-turn lane, a
“permitted” left turn is often allowed by a confusing hodgepodge of signals,
and drivers may have to pick their way through narrow windows of oncoming
traffic.