# Are there any states without right-on-red laws? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283 "2006-12-15T14:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/1 "2006-12-15T14:13:13Z")
Here in PA you may turn right at a redlight once you have made a full stop and if it is safe to do so and if it is not expressly prohibited by a sign. (There may be other aspects to it that I have been too lazy to type out, but you get the idea) Are there any states in the US that do not have a similar law? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/2 "2006-12-15T14:17:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Since January 1, 1980, all 50 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have had laws permitting right-turn-on-red unless a sign prohibits the turn. As of January 1, 1994, [http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/outreach/traftech/1995/TT086.htm](http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/outreach/traftech/1995/TT086.htm) (1995) ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/3 "2006-12-15T14:19:33Z")
On the one hand, it’s legal in New York State. On the other hand, illegal in New York City. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/4 "2006-12-15T14:20:36Z")
FWIW, right-on-red is illegal in New York City, but permitted everywhere else in the state (unless there’s a sign.) ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/5 "2006-12-15T18:20:39Z")
In NYC you may turn right on red, in limited places, **where noted by a sign**. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/6 "2006-12-15T18:24:16Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] In NYC you may turn right on red, in limited places, **where noted by a sign**. [/QUOTE] When I lived in Queens, I actually knew where there was such a sign. They weren’t common. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/7 "2006-12-15T18:33:16Z")
Somebody needs to confirm this for me, but I swear last time I was driving through St. Louis (which was, admittedly, about twelve years ago), right turns on red were prohibited. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/8 "2006-12-15T19:03:33Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Somebody needs to confirm this for me, but I swear last time I was driving through St. Louis (which was, admittedly, about twelve years ago), right turns on red were prohibited. [/QUOTE] [http://home.swbell.net/mpion/city.htm](http://home.swbell.net/mpion/city.htm) shows somebody supposedly making a legal right on red. Here is the MO state statute permitting right turns on red: [http://www.moga.state.mo.us/statutes/C300-399/3040000281.HTM](http://www.moga.state.mo.us/statutes/C300-399/3040000281.HTM) I wasn’t able to locate a current ordinance prohibiting right turns on red, so we don’t have to worry about what happens if an ordinance forbids what a state statute expressly permits. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/9 "2006-12-15T19:13:18Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Somebody needs to confirm this for me, but I swear last time I was driving through St. Louis (which was, admittedly, about twelve years ago), right turns on red were prohibited. [/QUOTE] Right turns on red have been legal in Missouri since the 70s, just before I got my driver’s license. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/10 "2006-12-15T19:57:59Z")
[QUOTE=Julius Henry] Right turns on red have been legal in Missouri since the 70s, just before I got my driver’s license. [/QUOTE] When the Right on Red law was first in effect in Missouri, such turns were illegal in the “St. Louis Downtown Area”. This was in the late 60’s. The downtown area was bounded by Tucker on the West and Washington on the North. As best I can remember anyway. I was taking my drivers test, having just moved into the state, and failed because I made a right on red into the boundry area. :eek: I came back the next day and the inspector just signed off the paper. So for a while at least the city ordinance outranked the state law. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/11 "2006-12-15T20:04:38Z")
Interesting. I must have gotten my information from a woefully outdated source. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/12 "2006-12-15T21:16:05Z")
Be careful when traveling even if the state your visiting does allow right turn on red. I learned to drive in Colorado, and the rule says you may turn right on red _into the right lane_. In fact, you’re always supposed to turn right into the right lane and left into the left lane. Headed off to college in California. The school had a road that ran all the way around the campus, feeding into the various parking lots. At various intervals, there were stubs roads going out to the main nearby streets. I was approaching one of these stubs from the east as someone else approached from the west. We both had stop signs. We both stopped. The stub was 2 lanes each way, so when he started pulling out to make his left, I pulled out to make my right. He just about hit me, and I cussed him out roundly for turning into “my” lane. I then discovered that California doesn’t control which lane you turn into. Stupid dangerous lack-of-a-law! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dumbest\_Guy\_in\_the\_Room](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@The\_Dumbest\_Guy\_in\_the\_Room](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dumbest_Guy_in_the_Room)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/13 "2006-12-15T22:37:21Z")
The UK doesn’t allow left-on-red unless specifically authorised, by sign or filter arrow. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/14 "2006-12-15T22:48:02Z")
[QUOTE=Topologist] When I lived in Queens, I actually knew where there was such a sign. They weren’t common. [/QUOTE] It’s still there (Long Island Expressway exit approaching Woodhaven Boulevard). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/15 "2006-12-16T00:09:23Z")
[QUOTE=The Dumbest Guy in the Room] The UK doesn’t allow left-on-red unless specifically authorised, by sign or filter arrow. [/QUOTE] When did we become a state? 😉 In seriousness, right(orleft)-on-red can’t work with the typical European layout, not only because there’s far more junctions where visibility is an issue, but also because of the culture that pedestrian crossings are given a seperate phase in the lights, and that when traffic is moving, there’s no reason to expect pedestrians to be there. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/16 "2006-12-16T00:15:36Z")
Montreal may be the last holdout in North America. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/17 "2006-12-16T00:27:59Z")
[QUOTE=The Dumbest Guy in the Room] The UK doesn’t allow left-on-red unless specifically authorised, by sign or filter arrow. [/QUOTE] Well NY not only has right on red, but also left on red. The second applies when going from a one way to a second one way street. ---
**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/18 "2006-12-16T00:57:48Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] I then discovered that California doesn’t control which lane you turn into. Stupid dangerous lack-of-a-law! [/QUOTE] I learned to drive in California, and the rule was you could turn right on red into the right lane. In fact, you were always required to turn right into the right lane and left into the left lane. Did they change the law in California? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/19 "2006-12-16T01:23:44Z")
[QUOTE=The Dumbest Guy in the Room] The UK doesn’t allow left-on-red unless specifically authorised, by sign or filter arrow. [/QUOTE] Same in Australia, or at least in New South Wales when i last lived there. The sign says [Left turn on red permitted after stopping](http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/trafficinformation/trafficfacilities/trafficsigns/r2/r2-20.html). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/20 "2006-12-16T01:34:54Z")
[QUOTE=kanicbird] Well NY not only has right on red, but also left on red. The second applies when going from a one way to a second one way street. [/QUOTE] Oooh, I can one-up you: in Michigan it doesn’t matter that you’re on a one way street. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283.md?page=2)