Why don't people know how to make a left turn at a traffic light?

(Image (C) FreeFoto.com)

This particular rant could equally be titled "why don't people know how to drive", but I'll just concentrate on this particular maneuver for now.

When you want to turn left at a traffic light and you are first in line, what do you do when the your light turns green? Assuming you don't have an arrow, so you have to yield to the people opposite that are going straight ahead, that is...

Well, it seems that a good proportion of the population seems to think that the correct thing to do in this situation is...nothing at all. They just sit there at their green light, waiting for I don't really know what. Then if the traffic is heavy enough, their light eventually turns back to red and they haven't even moved an inch but they've successfully managed to annoy everybody else behind them. I'm surprised that these people don't die of old age, still sat at the light with their turn signal blinking away.

For the record, here is what you should do in this situation. When your light turns green, pull forward into the middle of the intersection and wait for a gap in the oncoming traffic. If it is rush hour and a gap never appears, when your green light ends, make the left turn. On no account turn into a total moron and try to back up so you can wait for the next green light.

For those that still think it isn't even legal to pull forward when the light is green, here is the actual law (for WA state, at least) that says that it is allowed.