Right Turn on Red - Maybe Not (Page 5): I'm with you. My wife and I had an odd experience in San Francisco about ten years ago. We had two things going against us. We were driving a...

SteveR Loc: Michigan

ELNikkor wrote:

I am probably a below-average-distance driver. On... (show quote)

I'm with you. My wife and I had an odd experience in San Francisco about ten years ago. We had two things going against us. We were driving a sporty gas guzling car (20 mpg) with Texas plates. However, we were there during the BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) strike, so there were many more pedestrians than usual. Whenever I needed to make a right turn, I had to allow for pedestrians to clear before I could turn. So, I would wait. Without fail, somebody behind me would jump on their horn as if I was supposed to plow through pedestrians. Almost always without fail it would turn out to be j.a. driving a Prius.

fhayes Loc: Madison, Tennessee

Just stop and catch a breath folks! A rolling stop does not save you anything

Rich2236 Loc: E. Hampstead, New Hampshire

jerryc41 wrote:

Many people have been killed by cars turning "... (show quote)

It's been my rule that when coming to a red light and you want to make a right turn on the red, you FIRST come to a complete stop, and LOOK BOTH ways...then and only then, if the crosswalk is empty, then make your right on the red.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

fhayes wrote:

Just stop and catch a breath folks! A rolling stop does not save you anything

Nope. A rolling stop led to my son's 2nd DUI. Probably a good thing, to tell you the truth. In Dallas the cops are so busy they'd just let you roll, but out here in the boonies, they're just looking for an infraction, and I told him that when we moved out here.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Rich2236 wrote:

It's been my rule that when coming to a red light and you want to make a right turn on the red, you FIRST come to a complete stop, and LOOK BOTH ways...then and only then, if the crosswalk is empty, then make your right on the red.

It's not just your rule, it's the law. But you are in the minority. I doubt the law will be able to be enforced strongly enough to make it safe for pedestrians in crosswalks, so I think it would be best to just ban right on red outright.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

bnnsradio wrote:

As a retired police officer and a defensive driving instructor, I can assure you that most people do not know that the law is: right turn on red is permitted, after a full stop, and when it is safe. Most of the students I have taught think the law is that the right turn is permitted if there is no traffic present, or when it is safe. They believe that no stop is needed if there is no traffic. Hence, you can't fix stupidity...Ignorance of the law is No Excuse....

You must also realize most drivers know they are supposed to come to a full stop at stop signs, but very few do, and they don't have the ignorance of the law excuse. Maybe it would help to post signs at intersections where right on red is allowed saying you must stop first.

jesmason

My problem is turning right at the intersection of a 2-lane road and a 4-lane highway with turn lanes and a median. Drivers turning left off the highway don't give me the right of way I deserve as a right-turner on GREEN but start into their turn and THEN check to see who may be turning into the lane or using the crosswalk. It's a long way from their left-turn lane to their target lane on the 2-lane. Lots of YIKEs! and more than a few crashes. I'm waiting for a turning driver to see the right-turner, stop, and get wiped out by a semi they thought they could beat.

bnnsradio Loc: Belvidere, IL

JohnSwanda wrote:

You must also realize most drivers know they are supposed to come to a full stop at stop signs, but very few do, and they don't have the ignorance of the law excuse. Maybe it would help to post signs at intersections where right on red is allowed saying you must stop first.

Nope! Drivers don't know how to read anymore, especially signs....

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

bnnsradio wrote:

As a retired police officer and a defensive driving instructor, I can assure you that most people do not know that the law is: right turn on red is permitted, after a full stop, and when it is safe. Most of the students I have taught think the law is that the right turn is permitted if there is no traffic present, or when it is safe. They believe that no stop is needed if there is no traffic. Hence, you can't fix stupidity...Ignorance of the law is No Excuse....

What's frustrating is sitting behind a driver who does not turn right, even though there is no traffic. I don't honk my horn. I just wait.

We have some intersections in town where there are hours posted for when you can and cannot turn right on red. That tends to confuse people.

Mr. SONY Loc: LI, NY

Longshadow wrote:

We make left turn on red once in a while.
Why?
Because the light at the entrance/exit to where we live can take as long as five minutes to
give us a green light.
Now the street we need to turn onto many times has little to no traffic on it.
No one!
But were stuck there waiting for the light to change, but no traffic.

marine73 Loc: Modesto California

Mr. SONY wrote:

We make left turn on red once in a while.
Why?
Because the light at the entrance/exit to where we live can take as long as five minutes to
give us a green light.
Now the street we need to turn onto many times has little to no traffic on it.
No one!
But were stuck there waiting for the light to change, but no traffic.

complain to your local traffic engineer they are the ones that control the timing of the lights.

Mr. SONY Loc: LI, NY

marine73 wrote:

complain to your local traffic engineer they are the ones that control the timing of the lights.

We have.
Years ago.
They done the best they could.
Hence we make left turns on red.

Ed Commons

A Right Turn on Red is fine. You are supposed to stop, before turning. You are also, under law to yield to pedestrians. This gives you time to make certain the crosswalk is clear of pedestrians and that no cars with a green light are coming at you. Unfortunately, drivers pull out into on-comming traffic, and scare pedestrians in the cross walk.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Ed Commons wrote:

A Right Turn on Red is fine. You are supposed to stop, before turning. You are also, under law to yield to pedestrians. This gives you time to make certain the crosswalk is clear of pedestrians and that no cars with a green light are coming at you. Unfortunately, drivers pull out into on-comming traffic, and scare pedestrians in the cross walk.

The problem is most drivers don't stop first, especially if there is a line of cars - they just follow each other through.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Mr. SONY wrote:

We make left turn on red once in a while.
Why?
Because the light at the entrance/exit to where we live can take as long as five minutes to
give us a green light.
Now the street we need to turn onto many times has little to no traffic on it.
No one!
But were stuck there waiting for the light to change, but no traffic.

At least in NY, if the light is green, you are allowed to enter the intersection. Unfortunately, some people don't realize that, and they stop at the white line waiting for a chance to turn left. By then, the light turns red, and the waiting begins again.