Drivers Making Illegal Left Turn out of Montgomery Shopping Center
People refusing to follow a traffic sign off Carter Hill Road are creating dangerous driving conditions near a major intersection.
A traffic sign that reads “right turn only” is being ignored by many area drivers.
Dangerous road conditions are being created and traffic becoming more congested near the Country Club Shopping Center off of Carter Hill Road. Alabama News Network caught vehicle after vehicle making a left turn out of one of the shopping center’s exits, one that does NOT permit left turns. We even caught two pizza delivery drivers and a postal carrier making the illegal turn.
“The sign says no left turn but often drivers usually make a left turn and it’s a really dangerous left turn because you can’t see over the bushes, the hedges, so it’s really a blind type of turn,” says Montgomery resident Brandon Stephens.
But that blind turn doesn’t seem to phase many drivers, who make it anyway. Montgomery Police tell us the last car wreck that happened here was just three weeks ago, when a driver illegally turning left hit a car on its way out.
“I think it’s dangerous,” says resident Vergie Price. “Whenever a sign says don’t turn left, you shouldn’t turn left because you can actually get somebody killed or hurt.”
“We want to know about every infraction that’s going on, whether we can respond instantaneously or not, I don’t know,” says Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange.
Strange says any dangerous intersection in the city is concerning.
“Obviously, we can’t have a police officer at every corner but if that’s a problem and it is impeding traffic and we know about it, then we can put a special surveillance there and usually shopping centers themselves, some of the stores that get impacted by backed up traffic would let us know and we’d put a special detail out there.”
But some drivers say they’d like another exit out of the shopping center and don’t think the left turn should be illegal.
“You be at the light so long, people just any force they can to get out,” Stephens says.
We weren’t able to meet with Montgomery Police today but they tell us they DO know about this problem. They say thankfully, speeds on Carter Hill Road are lower so you won’t see too many life-threatening collisions, however they are looking into it.
