R.M.W.

Is there a word or a short phrase that cyclists use to describe making left hand turns from busy multi-lane streets by turning right at the cross street and then a quick U-turn to wait for the stop light? This avoids the dangers of changing several lanes from the bike lane near the gutter across heavy traffic to the left hand turn lane for cars.

tyrion

Don't know of a word to describe that. Sometimes I'll take a pedestrian route (e.g. crosswalks) to achieve those tricky left turns.

Maelochs

No specific term for that practice .... maybe "cycling survival"?

Making the left turn is not the issue for me as a rule ... it is trying to convince traffic that I have the right to actually cross from the bike lane/ right-hand edge to the left- or turn lane. Lots iof times drivers seem to be fine with me on the far right and seem to see me as a target anywhere else.

Well ... not always. Twice this year I had a driver pass me in the oncoming lane on a blind corner because I took the lane .... once the overtaking car missed hitting an oncoming car by about ten feet (which is really close at 40+ mph) and the other time the oncoming driver had to drive right off the road to avoid the overtaking car.

So long as it happens away from me, they are free to joust, I say.

Pratt

It sounds like the word you are searching for is "illegal."
Becoming a pedestrian for a little bit and using the cross walk and light is simple, legal and safe.

tcs

Crossing to the other corner, realigning 90• and crossing was once called a “Swedish left turn”. I haven’t heard that term in decades.

R.M.W.

Yes! That is the term I was trying to recall! Thanks.

I guess the British would call that technique an "English right-hand turn".

datlas 

Jug handle?

wolfchild

I've used that technique many times but I never knew there was an actual name for it.

fooferdoggie 

this is wear I really like my Garmin radar. it will let me know its clear s oI can get over. I don't have to constantly look in the mirror.

terrymorse 

Risky is the word I use.

Specifically, it is the u-turn that is risky.

A local guy got flattened a few years back doing that. He didn't notice that a car had also turned and was overtaking him. He started to make his u-turn, splat.

After making a right turn off an expressway, I was surprised by a car appearing behind me, seemingly from "out of nowhere". It had done a "go like hell" left turn on a very yellow light, so it was moving fast. Fortunately, I got the long horn blare instead of a flattening.

BobbyG

Depending on the street and traffic situation I also do this when it is the safest option for making a left turn.

I always thought of it as a "Jug Handle" or "Jersey Left".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jughandle

rsbob 

Suicidal

genejockey 

I've seen some of this, but mostly I see riders make a right on red without stopping, flip a U-turn, and then a right turn at the green to just keep going straight. I consider that cheating.

mschwett 

the u-turn part of this can be a little risky, you need to be really sure nobody is making a fast turn, or just going through the intersection fast if it changed quicker than you thought.

we used to call this a “P” turn as kids.

DaveSSS 

I ride like driving a car. I make a left turn at a major intersection, but I'm riding in the left-most lane before the intersection, just like the cars. You have the right to use the road like other vehicles. Most often, I'm in a row of cars, all wanting to turn left at the light.
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biker128pedal

I’d call it a jug handle turn like the New Jersey way to make a left.

tcs

In a 'Swedish left turn' there is no u-turn or jug handle.

rollagain

I used to love doing this during rush-hour in downtown Columbus. I was routinely able to keep up with motor traffic and often go faster yet. That might be why they let me get away with it. Still, I had my head on a swivel, checking my mirror and looking over my shoulder, and whenever I needed to change lanes I'd always signal prominently and make eye contact with the driver I was about to merge in front of. Also, I didn't take unfair advantage of being on a bike, such as threading between lines of cars, and I think they might have appreciated that too (it also removes the chance of collecting a door prize).

Another thing I've done a few times is, whenever I was first in line in the left-turn lane on a red light, I'd turn and wave the car behind me to pull up close so they were over the sensor and would trigger the left-turn arrow for us both.

Claiming the whole lane doesn't work everywhere in all cases, of course; I'm almost never able to do that in the exurb I now live in.

Mtracer

I don't understand the OPs approach. Doesn't the U-Turn require crossing lanes. Of course if the cross street is much smaller and perhaps only has one lane in each direction, then there is no crossing.

I realize the OP's questions is what is this called rather than a question on best practices. But I'll chime in on that. I rarely ride where I need to cross multiple lanes with heavy traffic. So, I never have trouble moving over into left turn lanes. If I did need to, I'd probably stay right, cross, then stop and orient myself to cross again on the green, What some here are calling the "Swedish Turn". I've heard this called a "box turn".

Heck even when driving, trying to move from the far right to the left in heavy traffic is hard enough. Most of us would make the needed lane changes well in advance by taking advantage of gaps that open when the cars are at max speed between intersections. Around where I live, heavy traffic moves too fast for a cyclist to do this. When the traffic slows for a red light, it's bumper to bumper and no one in a car or on a bike is making any lane changes.

Lombard

This is the correct way to make a left turn. Anything else makes us look unpredictable and is unsafe.

KerryIrons

Nonsense. When you are on the right hand side of a busy road, you simply go onto the right side street and over to the far curb. At that point you can dismount and straighten the bike to make the crossing. Since you are either waiting for a light on the side street or waiting for a traffic gap in the main street, you'd have to stop anyway. This way of making the turn is recognized by every bike safety training program out there.

livedarklions

I agree with that--I think this is a mistaken probability calculation, although the particulars of a specific intersection might make it the better choice. The real problem with it as a general proposition is that there's a false premise--there's no reduction in the number of lanes being crossed by doing this maneuver, and two of those lane crossings are being done at a weird, hard to predict angle (the U turn) where you likely have a blind spot to cars turning right from the road you started on.

livedarklions

I have never seen any "program" advocate it. I'm pretty sure the U turn would be illegal in a lot of places where the rule is we have to follow the same rules for motor vehicle operation.

Fahrenheit531 

There's one intersection where I routinely do that when I'm the only one at the red light... it lets me continue on my way without stopping the flow of traffic on the busier street.
...But I do slow or stop as appropriate before making that right.

mstateglfr 

GREEN- If I am riding in the road, I will move to my left as traffic allows and then get into the left turn lane. I do what vehicles do since I am using the road like a vehicle.

RED- If I am riding on a MUP/Trail, I will turn right and pull a U turn at the stop light. This is me transitioning from not being part of traffic to being part of traffic.