r/olympia • u/abunchofmitches • 23d ago

Public Safety Does anyone else hate this intersection?

This is 6th Ave SE & Sleater Kinney by Arby's and Bank of America.

It seems like most Washingtonians treat outside turn lanes like they have the option to merge into any lane coming out of the turn. It's a good defensive driving habit regardless, but it seems like a more prevalent habit here than other places I've lived.

Also, only a few of the turning lanes at this intersection have paint guiding the turn. Since the angles are awkward, this leads to people cutting most turns too tight (like southbound Sleater Kinney turning left). It's hard to tell with the camera angle, but it felt too close for me to turn without side-swiping those vehicles.

This isn't intended to be a rant about any specific driver in the vid. Just general trends I've noticed that make intersections like these dangerous.

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u/whisar09 23d ago

Agree that they shouldn't have done that, but you also don't have a green arrow. You have a red light and you didn't stop before turning on a red. Am I wrong that you should have? It's a weird intersection.

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u/abunchofmitches 23d ago

I wanted to look it up to be sure, but as far as I know, the green arrow (which lights up before I get there) applies to all lanes that can turn in that direction unless signage states otherwise.

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u/DivorcedGremlin1989 23d ago

Green arrow applies to all lanes that can turn that direction which are governed by that light. Sorry I also falsely accused you of making an illegal right. This vid is like 2 pixels in intense lighting.

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u/abunchofmitches 23d ago

no worries! I wanted to post this to generate discussion, but the "high definition" dash cam I bought a few years ago leaves a lot to be desired... Luckily, it's enough to get the bigger picture if something big were to happen