People ask our Washington ticket lawyers all the time when is it legal to do a U-Turn in WA State. For some unknown reason, many people think it is some taboo illegal act. This is simply not the case. The law is actually relatively straight forward. According to RCW 46.61.298:
(1) The driver of any vehicle shall not turn such vehicle so as to proceed in the opposite direction unless such movement can be made in safety and without interfering with other traffic.
(2) No vehicle shall be turned so as to proceed in the opposite direction upon any curve, or upon the approach to or near the crest of a grade, where such vehicle cannot be seen by the driver of any other vehicle approaching from either direction within five hundred feet.
Bottom line, if it is safe and you don’t interfere with traffic, you probably can do it. One thing that needs to be pointed out is “interfering with other traffic” can include the traffic behind you. Our WA traffic lawyers have reviewed a number of police reports over the years where people are attempting a U-turn only to get T-boned by the car following midway through the turn. You need to watch out for oncoming traffic AND following traffic.