Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1161 · Article 28. Turning and Starting and Signals On Stopping and Turning
U turns in certain areas prohibited
Text — Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
§ 1161. U turns in certain areas prohibited. a. No motor vehicle shall make a U turn upon any curve, or upon the approach to, or near the crest of a grade, where such motor vehicle cannot be seen by the driver of any other motor vehicle approaching from either direction within five hundred feet.
b. No motor vehicle shall make a U turn within a school zone. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "school zone" shall mean the distance along a highway passing a school building, entrance or exit of a school abutting on the highway for which a school sign (S1-1) has been posted pursuant to this chapter and in compliance with the manual on uniform traffic control devices maintained pursuant to section sixteen hundred eighty of this chapter.
c. No altered motor vehicle commonly referred to as a "stretch limousine" having a seating capacity of nine or more passengers including the driver shall make a U-turn upon any public highway or private road open to public motor vehicle traffic. Every person convicted of a violation of this subdivision shall: for a first conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than four hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than fifteen days or by both such fine and imprisonment; for a conviction of a second or subsequent violation, both of which were committed within a period of eighteen months, such person shall be punished by a fine of not less than six hundred dollars nor more than seven hundred fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than forty-five days or by both such fine and imprisonment. A violation of this subdivision wherein the violator is operating such altered motor vehicle and such altered motor vehicle is carrying at least one passenger other than the driver shall be punishable by a fine of not less than seven hundred fifty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one hundred eighty days or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
- Official file
- https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/VAT1161
- Text hash
- sha256 d1de1a0d4bc2fcb977bc5710f3fdc9f2792f5cf2375196e8b184d6c375ee9436
- Composed by
- gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.