california traffic
Trying to remember Right of Way rules for this situation
<p>I had a negative experience on the road recently, and I want to know if I was in the wrong. It's a simple situation: I am leaving a parking lot preparing to turn left on to a main road, another car enters the left turn lane preparing to enter the road I'm leaving. I was there first, so I go ahead to make my left turn, but the other car begins to move as well. We both stopped a few feet from each other, the driver gestures frustratedly for me to go, so I do, and then they blow passed me on my right, even though they were in the left turn lane.</p>
<p>Who was in the wrong for the confusion, who was being unsafe?</p>
<p>I'm not sure intersection rules apply here. Should I have yielded because they are on my right?</p>
<p>Here is a road like the one I was on with the cars in the positions I'm talking about.</p>
<p>I would be the blue one:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/A41wE.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/A41wE.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

<h2>You broke <em>so many</em> <a href="https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/california-driver-handbook/laws-and-rules-of-the-road/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">rules</a></h2>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>At “T” intersections without “STOP” or “YIELD” signs, yield to traffic and pedestrians on the through road. They have the right-of-way.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>When you turn left, give the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching that are close enough to be dangerous.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>If you have parked on the side of the road or are leaving a parking lot, etc., yield to traffic before reentering the road.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>But there was no collision so, no harm, no foul.</p>

<p>Dale's answer pretty much covers it, but I do want to point out one additional thing. You stated in your question that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>...the driver gestures frustratedly for me to go, so I do, and then they
blow passed me on my right, even though they were in the left turn
lane.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This kind of thing is what can cause some major accidents. That other driver has absolutely no control over every other vehicle on the road and as a result, those other drivers are not necessarily aware that there will be a breach in the default right-of-way rules to accommodate your maneuver.</p>
<p>From a purely legal standpoint, <a href="https://dmlawyer.com/crash-car-another-driver-waves/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the act of waving you forward does push some liability onto the other driver (in NJ).</a> <a href="https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/can-you-be-sued-if-you-wave-another-79261/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Same goes for Virginia, too</a>. Not sure about California, though.</p>
<p>Legality aside, being legally correct is not better than being dead and that is absolutely what can happen with a t-bone type collision. So in the future, try to not get flustered in those situations and simply default to the standard right-of-way conventions. It's much safer for everyone.</p>
