A system and method to distinguish between a lane change and a turn of a vehicle as an intended movement of the vehicle based on a driver-initiated motion toward an adjacent lane that is adjacent to a lane occupied by the vehicle include obtaining input from one or more sources. The one or more sources include a sensor system or a communication system. The method also includes processing the input from the one or more sources to obtain indirect information that indicates a direction of travel in the lane adjacent or to obtain direct information specific to a location of the vehicle, determining whether the lane change or the turn is more likely to be the intended movement based on the indirect information or the direct information, and modifying an action of a vehicle system based on the determining whether the lane change or the turn is more likely.