There are some reasonably obscure traffic laws on the books. Most people learn about them only after they or others they know are cited for a violation.
Every driver knows that speeding, running a stop sign and making an unsafe lane change are prohibited. All the basic traffic laws are covered on the exam for an Arizona driver's license.
A much-less-familiar, and often disregarded, traffic law is found in Arizona Revised Statutes Section 28-651:
"A person shall not drive on or through any private property, road or driveway to avoid obedience to traffic rules or traffic control devices."
In plain language, this means that drivers may not take shortcuts through private property to avoid a logjam at a red light or "defeat" a "no left turn" intersection.
Private property includes parking lots for shopping centers and other businesses.
If you drive in a fairly large city, especially during rush hour, you probably will see frequent violations of this law. Even small communities, however, are not exempt from this practice.
Parking lots and private drives are not engineered to accommodate a high volume of through traffic. Drivers who inappropriately use them greatly increase the risk of accidents with possible injury to others, including pedestrians. The traffic law forbidding this practice is based primarily on safety considerations, rather than protection for the property interests of private landowners.
An interesting question is raised by the manner in which statute 28-651 is worded.
Because the word "road" is not immediately preceded by the word "private," it can be argued that a driver who makes an otherwise legal turn onto a public road for the purpose of avoiding, for example, a "no left turn" sign at the next intersection, has violated the law.
In many cases, small residential streets become busy detour thoroughfares for drivers who cannot turn directly onto nearby major streets.
It is unclear how a court might rule on a citation issued to a driver who used a smaller public street to avoid a traffic regulation at a nearby larger one. The statute is ambiguous in that respect.
The law is clear, however, that the practice of using private property to avoid traffic control devices is illegal and unsafe. Do not increase the risk of accidents and injuries. If you are cited and found responsible, you can be fined.
