Merging into the golf lane in a car to turn right is a new one on me.
Whenever I'm in my golf cart and must turn left, I always merge into the left lane using both blinker and hand signal, just as I do on a bicycle with a hand signal. However, when driving a car in TV, it has never occurred to me to merge into the cart lane to make a right turn.
I just looked at TV's golf cart safety brochure to see if these issues where addressed. It doesn't say anything about cars merging into the golf cart lane to turn right. It does say carts should merge into the left lane to turn left.
Here's what is says:
When making a left turn, after signaling your
intention, carefully merge with vehicular traffic just
prior to the intersection and turn using the proper
signal and turn lane where available. Anywhere signage
or road markings provide such direction; golf
cart traffic should also merge with vehicular traffic.
Golf carts should yield to other vehicular traffic in
all cases.
The bold was in the brochure; I didn't add it. (The second sentence in the brochure with the semi-colon doesn't make sense to me. I guess it's a typo and was supposed to be a comma.)
I have never seen a car here merge into the cart lane to make a right turn. So, if cars are supposed to do that, as the deputy reportedly said, it apparently is not well known. It is possible the deputy was mistaken.
Inasmuch as I've never seen it done, I've never seen anything official saying that it's the proper thing to do, it seems awkward to me, and I think it would surprise and scare cart drivers, I do not plan at this time to start merging into the cart lane here when turning right in my car.
If I find out officially that this is the proper way to turn right, I guess I will start doing it.
P by-the-book Turner (except when I'm not)
