Right Turn on Red

In this upload I discuss turn right on a red light whilst in Florida. Whenever I do this it always makes me feel a bit naughty!

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[ben.taylor]

Right turn on red is such an unfriendly rule to pedestrians. I remember going to the US and how discomforting it was crossing the road with a green walk signal, and then out of nowhere comes a driver who's presumably "in the right"in what they're doing..

[ibs]

In the UK, left turn on red was actually considered many years ago but abolished on safety grounds.

[martin]

Hi Ashley,
I've just seen a story on ITV where 3 cars have crashed into the same house in Epping on 3 separate occasions this year alone. The accident spot is the t-junction between Coopersale street and Mount Road.

More info:
The homeowner has been logging crashes at the address since 2013. The council refuses to implement traffic calming measures because there have been 'no serious or fatal injuries'. You can see the house in question on Google Street view has a destroyed front wall and window boarded up from the last crash. 'Travelling' down Coopersale street on Google maps, I can see how this accident can easily happen to someone not paying attention, especially at night.

I thought this would make a cool video.
Kind regards,
from a long time viewer and subscriber.

[squagwag]

In Ireland, that left turn lane with a green arrow and yield line you mentioned is shown by a flashing yellow arrow.

[mhdawber]

I have only driven once in the States, when we hired a car to drive from Manhattan to Southampton on Long Island. Once we were out of the city zone, the right turns were permitted. I thought it was excellent, but the levels of traffic were low.

The worst bit, for me, was something which you touched on in this video, and that's the pedestrians crossing the road you are turning right (on a green) into. Navigating through Manhattan during rush hour remains one of the most stressful things I have done. Turning right anywhere is a challenge with the numbers of pedestrians crossing, which is added to by the constant horn honking. You effectively have to go whenever there is a gap in the pedestrians, which I found incredibly dangerous. If you ever go, or go back to, NYC, you should hire a car for a day and do a video on it.

[pickled]

Right on red is not a requirement at intersections in the US. If you do not feel comfortable making a right on a red light, you can remain stationary until you get the green light. Unfortunately, most US drivers are not aware of this and will begin honking at the driver waiting for the green light.

All of this is due to poor driver education in the US. Crashes have increased in the US over the past few years because many younger drivers got their driver education by watching video games. And you see it watching them drive along the freeways as if they are in a race with the other vehicles on the road.

Even though in my state it is illegal to drive using a hand held phone, many drivers still do it. Another unsafe practice that the police don't seem to attempt to stop, but results in numerous collisions.

[Igbon]

I think I agree with you on this one. It might be convenient, especially if traffic is low or non existent but the increase in risk isn't worth it. I think low visibility road users like cyclists and motor cyclists need feel that they do have a clear run when they have the green. It can be hard enough at the best of times for low vis users and left turn on red just adds more risk.

[iainamurray]

I'd recommend watching "Not Just Bikes" channel. Has completely changed my understanding of town planning and understanding how car dependency has been embedded into our transport systems.

[Spootyskater]

As someone who lives in Florida, people are so gung-ho about right on red. They’ll honk even when it would be unsafe due to traffic and sometimes also when “no right on red” signage is present. I’ve begun forgoing my turn signal until after the traffic light turns green

[AndyHill]

I've just come back from Vienna where it's the same. Takes a bit of getting used to as a UK pedestrian... agree with the concept but it does have a bit of a 'who dares wins' feel to it as you step out in to the road, with the cars often inching forwards as you cross.

[smsmsm]

Right on red is allowed where I live, and I hate it. Before I started to drive I thought left turns would be the worst, but right on red is so stressful. I feel like a lot of drivers ignore the fact that you have fully stop and I often feel pressured to go, which makes it a high pressure situation. I also hate when I have a protected left turn, but people across from me assume they can turn right on red and end up turning at the same time as me. Right on red does save some time but it has a lot of downsides.

[fhs]

In Mainland China, the traffic rules are somewhat similar to the US system. Yellow line on the middle of the road for direction separation. Also right turn on red. But unlike US, right turn do not required to have a full stop to observate. Also, much wider roads and bike lanes widen the right turn radius, thus right turn traffics are much faster than US (US mostly dont have bike lanes at right of vehicle lanes.)
But I dont think Europe or UK's no right(left) turn on red help save pedestrians and bikers. In China, most accidents happens are not from hitting the horizontal traffic (and its pedestrians), but the pedestrians at same direction with you (from rear to front of you). Especially for large trucks and semis.

[terrylayman]

In the US, a vast majority of roads are in grids and meet at right angles. As such, there is a limited number of directions you need to watch for and a very common sequence of signals for the two roads. Intersections with more than rwo roads or which are not at right angles, most of which are located on the Eastern Seaboard, are the ones where the "No RToR" signs are posted. In fact, for the first 10-15 years, Massachusetts disallowed RToR unless there was a specific sign allowing it. The roads in Boston and other cities were just too random to allow RToR. Over time, most of the intersections in Boston received "No RToR" signs by the time the law was changed to allow RToR by default.

In the UK, too many road intersections (which have signals) meet at random angles or number of roads or signal sequences to avoid ambiguity. A pedestrian will need to watch for LToR vehicles in addition to the ones which actually have a green signal.

[royaloreca]

Always love watching your videos and glad you touched on this topic. Just hoping you also bring up red blinker lights on cars and your view on them.

[PedroConejo]

It can be very handy because of long light cycles but turning right on red can get tricky with vehicles turning left from the opposite direction; those doing U-turns; pedestrians and cycles. Because it's the US, there's always a very specific rule for each of those, but that doesn't stop accidents; it only decides who gets the bill and the ticket. Its equivalent would not work in the UK except as you showed with a filter lane and dedicated light.

[cdn]

It does feel wrong - but pretend you're on a minor road turning into a major road with a give way sign, the rules are the same - watch out for u turning traffic who may have a green left turn arrow as well and it'll be fine.

You can also turn left on red into a one way street by default, as long as there's no sign prohibiting it.

It is a problem though sometimes, as aggressive drivers here turn off their brains and see a red light as green when they're turning right, and forget the meaning of the word 'yield' (which is what the give way signs here are called)

[ibs]

Because few drivers in North America actually come to a complete stop before making a right turn on red, if you do it correctly and actually come to a complete stop before proceeding, you can actually get beeped at. Same for Stop signs. Occasionally, police will carry out covert sting operations for Stop violations, handing out tickets with a fine.

[matthewdray]

I have been driving for many years in the US this was always something strange to get my head around, I have received many beeps from impatient drivers behind. You captured the main point in that the give way we have here in the UK only exists in the US in the form of a yield sign. In all other cases you must stop and you can see in most cases motorists do come to a complete stop even when its evident that they "could" proceed. I know we have the situation managed here by filter and traffic lights but we do spend a lot of time waiting at lights when in some cases the phasing of the lights means that for periods of time no traffic is passing in front of you. This just needs better programming of the lights. You will no doubt be aware atleast in London, this is deliberate planning on behalf of the mayor

[TheGrinningSkull]

I had an experience in the US where I was turning left but the pedestrians had a walking man on. I’d never experienced that before, but I hadn’t spotted them until I was close to that crosswalk as I’d already turned left and almost got to the end of the intersection. That was interesting to me.

[ibs]

In my home Canadian province of British Columbia as well as across the border in Washington State USA, you can also turn left on a red light as long as the street you are turning into is one way. You can even do this from a two way street into a one way street but not many drivers know this. Again, all the other parts to the rule still apply such as coming to a complete stop behind the stop line and yielding to cross traffic and pedestrians.