Right turn on red? With pedestrian deaths rising, US cities are considering bans
Almost every major city in the United States generally allows drivers to turn right at red lights, but that could be changing.
There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.
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Is right turn in red what it sounds like?
If you are at a full and complete stop at the line in the furthest right lane you can indicate your turn, check for and yield to all other traffic (including pedestrians), and make a right turn while the light is red. You don't have to wait for a green light when a right turn can be made safely unless a "no turn on red" sign is posted.
The catch is that when making the turn the only people who have less right of way are pretty much folks backing out of their driveways. That's hyperbole, but you get the picture. One should use extra caution when turning right on red because if there is an accident you will probably be considered at fault.
Wow. That's crazy. I guess we have something a bit similar in the UK. A lot of lights will have an extra light with an arrow to go left, which will turn green before the main light.
I mean, it's not all that crazy. It's the same end result as the extra light just using the driver's judgement instead of a more complicated traffic control system: when there is little traffic drivers don't have to wait to make a turn that doesn't cross lanes.
There are around 300,000 traffic lights in the US. Dome of them do have arrow signals similar to what you described but it is not the norm. With a road system as large as the one in the US it's more practical to have the turn on red policy by default and only install explicit turn arrow lights and "no turn on red" signs at intersections that need them.
