New York Beta · Rules
A turn is where paths cross, so most rules here decide who waits. On a drive test, examiners score your turns: your signal, lane position and looking all count.
Roadfeel’s road-sense principles
Tags show the kind of rule and whether it’s a written-test point or matters on the drive test (our tagging). Each rule links to its official source.
Signal every turn and lane change, with turn signals or hand signals, at least 100 feet before you make it. When possible, signal before you start to brake or turn.
Hand signals, left arm out the driver’s window: straight out for a left turn, bent up for a right turn, bent down with the palm facing back to stop or slow.
For a right turn, get as far right as you can, don’t swing wide, and turn into the right lane of the new road unless signs direct otherwise.
Before any turn, slow down and check traffic on all sides, especially for motorcycles: in most car-motorcycle crashes, the car’s driver failed to see the motorcycle.
Hold the wheels straight until the moment you start turning: if someone rear-ends you while they’re angled, you could be shoved into oncoming traffic.
Your rear wheels track inside the front wheels: closer to the curb on a right turn, closer to oncoming traffic on a left turn.
Watch for pedestrians, cyclists and moped riders, especially on right turns, and for people who sit low and can hide behind a car: wheelchair users, people pushing strollers or pulling wheeled suitcases.
Left turn from a one-way road onto another one-way road: start from the left lane, and if the new road has two lanes, end in its left lane. These positions are legal requirements.
Left turn from a one-way road onto a two-way road: approach in the left lane and enter just to the right of the new road’s center line, watching for traffic coming from your left.
Left turn from a two-way road onto a two-way road: approach next to the center line, use the intersection’s left side so oncoming left-turners can pass, and end just right of the center line.
Left turn from a two-way road onto a one-way road: approach next to the center line, start the turn before you reach the middle of the intersection, and enter the left lane.
Left turn from a two-way road onto a four-lane highway: approach next to the center line and enter the left lane, just right of the center line; move out of it when traffic allows.
Turning around on a highway is a last resort. Use a driveway, parking lot or similar open space instead, and pull back onto the road going forward, not in reverse.
Start a U-turn only from the left part of the lane nearest the center line, never the right lane. Unless signs forbid it, a green left-turn arrow allows a U-turn, yielding to other traffic.
No U-turns near a hilltop, on a curve, or anywhere drivers from either direction couldn’t see you 500 feet away.
California differs: California’s visibility rule is 200 feet; New York’s is 500 feet. California rule
U-turns are also illegal in New York City business districts, in school zones, where NO U-TURN signs are posted, and on limited-access expressways, even where a path connects the two sides.
California differs: California allows U-turns in business districts at intersections or median openings. In New York City business districts they’re banned outright, and New York also bans them in school zones. California rule
Where it’s allowed, a three-point turn lets you reverse direction on a narrow two-way street; the examiner may ask for one on your road test.
California differs: California’s drive test has no three-point turn; New York’s may include one.
Three-point turn, part 1: signal right, pull over and stop; then signal left, check traffic in every direction, and turn left across the road, stopping as you face the far curb or road edge.
Three-point turn, part 2: check traffic, steer full right and reverse while looking back, stopping short of the curb or any obstacle. Check again, steer full left and drive forward when safe.
3 of our 36 practice questions for this chapter, with explanations. The rest are in the app.
Answer: B. 100 feet
Signal at least 100 feet before every turn and every lane change, using your turn signals or hand signals. You may start earlier, but 100 feet is the minimum.
Answer: A. From the left part of the lane next to the center line
A U-turn must start from the left part of the lane closest to the center line, never from the right lane. Starting from the right lane or the shoulder means sweeping across a lane of same-direction traffic before you even reach the oncoming side.
Answer: C. Left arm out and bent down, palm facing back
To show you’re stopping or slowing, put your left arm out and bend it downward with your palm facing the cars behind. Straight out means a left turn, and bent up means a right turn.
33 more practice questions for this chapterKeep practicing in Roadfeel
Restated in our own words from the New York State Driver’s Manual (MV-21) and other official pages, mostly dmv.ny.gov. The manual is © NYS DMV with all rights reserved, so we don’t reproduce it; we quote short phrases and link to it.