HPD: No Right Turns on Shoulder

The Hawai’i Police Department is reminding the public that right turns should be made from the roadway and not from the right shoulder.

Some motorists believe that it is safer to travel onto the right shoulder before turning to allow traffic to pass on the left, according to Puna District Captain Samuel Jelsma.

Turning from the shoulder, according to Captain Jelsma, can create several hazards, including:

• Reduced visibility of what is around the corner.
• Reduced visibility for other vehicles attempting to enter the highway from an intersection.
• The potential for a vehicle properly traveling in the traffic lane to execute a right turn and collide with the vehicle traveling on the shoulder.
• Increased risk of collisions with pedestrians and bicyclists.

Hawai’i Revised Stautes 291C-81 notes that “both the approach for a right turn and a right turn should be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway.”

Captain Jelsma says that the “edge of the roadway” means the white solid line.