Is it valid to use 'cruzar' to indicate turning? Shouldn't it be 'girar'?

Question

My computer based Spanish course just served up a lesson where they translated cruzar to mean to turn when giving directions (and did so on multiple occasions).
This confused me as I understood cruzar to mean to cross, and expected girar to be used for turning. And two online dictionaries and my paper dictionary do not seem to mention any usage of cruzar have anything to do with turning.

Yet when I went to google, it translated both

usted debe cruzar a la derecha

and

usted debe girar a la derecha

as the same thing:

You should turn right

What am I missing in the use of cruzar overlapping girar?

In my language course continues to use cruzar as to turn. The following is some dialog from the lesson I am doing now:

(...) y luego vas a cruzar a la derecha (...) En la calle treinta cruzas a la derecha y caminas media cuadra

and their translation:

(...) And then you're going to turn right (...) In street Thirty you'll turn right and walk half a block.

I did what I should have done and went to the website of my language course, where someone else has asked the exact same question. There was a comment that indicated:

this verb seems to be only used to say "to turn" in some parts of Colombia, and in Venezuela

Can anyone confirm this?

Answer 1

Quizá sea una fusión de: «En el siguiente cruce gire a la derecha». O una manera resumida de decir «cruzar situándose en el lado derecho».

Estas dos palabras (cruzar, girar) significan principalmente lo que has dicho. Yo no creo haber oído la expresión «cruzar a la derecha», pero, si realmente se usa, si no se trata de lo que te he dicho en el primer párrafo -algo entendible por el contexto-, creo que no te estás perdiendo nada.

Answer 2

You are correct because I learned that cruzar means to cross and girar means to turn. I also checked on google translate and wrote "You should cross right" and it translated saying "usted debe cruzar a la derecha". Then I wrote "You should turn right" and translated saying "usted debe girar a la derecha".

Example:

El mapa me dio instrucciones y me dijo que girar a la izquierda

In English is saying:The map gave me directions and told me to turn left.

El mapa me dio instrucciones y me dijo que cruzar la calle

In English is saying: The map gave me directions and told me to cross the street

Answer 3

Supongo que se refiere a girar cuando no vas a tener que pasar por encima de la carretera (no "cruzas" nada), es decir, vas por la acera de la derecha y giras a la derecha continuando por la misma acera.

Sin embargo si vas por la acera de la izquierda y quieres ir a la derecha debes cruzar la carretera, luego no sonaría mal decir "cruza a la derecha".

Answer 4

Sigh. I tried six online dictionaries and none of them included this expression. Yet, when I google the exact phrase cruzar a la derecha I get tons of hits, authentic articles.

Here's just one example from El Tiempo (Columbia):

Varios lectores de Vehículos escribieron a esta redacción preguntando si hacer el cruce a la derecha mientras la luz del semáforo está en rojo es una acción prohibida

It seems that at least in Columbia this is a reasonable way to talk.

I noticed that one of the dictionary definitions speaks of a farmer plowing in a criss-cross pattern. This gave me the idea that whenever there's a concept of perpendicularity, cruzar can be used. Well, when you turn right, you are making a 90 degree angle (perpendicular). Hopefully this connection will make the phrase feel more comfortable for you.