People v. Walker, 2018 IL App (4th) 170877 (September). Episode 536 (Duration 10:58)

Turns out we’ve been misreading the “proper turn” statute all along.

Gist

Defendant was stopped for an improper left turn and received a ticket for driving while his license was revoked (625 ILCS 5/6-303).

He filed a motion to suppress evidence from the stop, asserting the police officer who stopped him lacked reasonable, articulable suspicion defendant had violated the law.

State Argued

The State argued defendant was required to turn into the nearest westbound lane pursuant to section 11-801 of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Vehicle Code) (625 ILCS 5/11­ 801). Because defendant did not do so, the traffic stop was valid.

According to the State, section 11-801(a)(2) unambiguously required defendant to enter the leftmost lane legally available when he executed the left turn in this case. In the alternative, the State argues section 11-801(a)(2) is ambiguous.

The Turn

Around 12:30 a.m. on defendant drove his car out of a gas station by making a right turn onto Hershey Road in Bloomington, Illinois. Defendant then proceeded north on Hershey Road, eventually moving into the left turn lane as he approached the intersection of Hershey Road and Empire Street.

The traffic light was red, and defendant stopped at the intersection.

When the light turned green, defendant made a left turn onto Empire Street, exiting the intersection into the farthest available westbound lane, which was the northernmost lane. After making his left turn, defendant was proceeding in a westerly direction on Empire Street, which had two lanes for westbound traffic.

Immediately after defendant exited the intersection, an officer stopped defendant for making an improper left turn because defendant did not exit the intersection into the nearest westbound lane of traffic on Empire Street.

Required Position And Method Of Turning

Section 11-801(a)(2) provides the following:

“(2) The driver of a vehicle intending to turn left at any intersection shall approach the intersection in the extreme left-hand lane lawfully available to traffic moving in the direction of travel of such vehicle, and after entering the intersection, the left turn shall be made so as to leave the intersection in a lane lawfully available to traffic moving in such direction upon the roadway being entered. Whenever practicable the left turn shall be made in that portion of the intersection to the left of the center of the intersection.”

625 ILCS 5/11-801(a)(2).

The first sentence of section 11-801(a)(2) is a compound sentence and states

(1) the law as to what lane—“the extreme left-hand lane”—a driver must be in when approaching an intersection to make a left turn and

(2) the law as to what lane—“a lane lawfully available to traffic moving in such direction upon the roadway being entered”—the driver should use when exiting the intersection.

The second sentence of subsection (a)(2), which is the focus of the State’s argument, states the law as to what the driver should do within the intersection: “Whenever practicable the left turn shall be made in that portion of the intersection to the left of the center of the intersection.”

Analysis

Pursuant to a plain reading of section 11-801(a)(2), which we do not find to be ambiguous, defendant did not violate the law by exiting the intersection into the farthest westbound lane of traffic on Empire Street. For this court to agree with the State’s interpretation of this subsection, we would have to depart from the plain language of the statute by ...