When I was young I seem to remember the law being different on U-turns. About 40 or 50 years ago I think it was illegal to do a U-turn. This pretty much was the law everywhere in southwestern Ontario. Except there were a few sign marked places where you could legally make a U-turn.
Now it’s many years later and I think somewhere in that time, the government has made a U-turn on U-turns. I think they gave up on enforcing no U-turns everywhere. Everyone seems to do it and it’s just impossible seeming to enforce it.
However, enforcing no U-turns seems important on certain stretches of road. Like King St between downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo. Now that there is Light Rail Transit in the middle of this street, any U-turners are very likely to be hit by the LRT vehicle. It’s happened at least once that I’ve seen on the news.
So now there are no U-turn signs all along this stretch of King Street. This is a small enough stretch of road that the police can enforce it. Also, the LRT can enforce this rule simply enough by smashing up your vehicle. Remember you were warned by a sign so it’ll be your fault if your car winds up smashed.
And now I wonder why they are called U-turns in the first place. I think that when you begin to do a U-turn is when it should be envisioned. But at the start of a U-turn, it’s not a U but a small n that let’s you envision what you are going to do. You begin at the bottom right end of the n and follow that line as it circles back to where you have been.
To actually make a U-turn, you would have to stop your car in your lane. Then you would have to go backwards, starting at the top right of the U and tracing the letter the whole way. You would be going backwards the whole way. Dangerously, I might add. Then when you got to the top left of the U, you would stop and then drive forwards. It works but it is dangerous.
That is why I vote for changing the name of the U-turn to the n-turn. But everyone older will never use that term and it will be 70 years before the changeover is complete. All while there will be much grumbling.
I might have to take an n-turn on my position.
