# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/21 "2006-12-16T01:39:46Z")
[QUOTE=Balthisar] Oooh, I can one-up you: in Michigan it doesn’t matter that you’re on a one way street. [/QUOTE] Yup: [Detroit Local News - Michigan News - Breaking News - detroitnews.com](http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061101/OPINION03/611010387/1267) And see this bit on the famous Michigan left: [Michigan Highways: In Depth: The Michigan Left](http://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/michigan_left.html) ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/22 "2006-12-16T02:29:03Z")
[QUOTE=Yeah] 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? [/QUOTE] In California, your right turn has to turn start from the right lane and finish in the right lane unless there are multiple lanes that allow right turns. On left turns however, you can turn in to which ever lane is safe. Unless there are multiple lanes that allow left turns. Then you have to stay in your lane. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/23 "2006-12-16T02:59:02Z")
[QUOTE=GaryM] 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. [/QUOTE] Right on red is still illegal at most intersections in downtown St. Louis. There are other scattered intersections around here where there’s no right on red. It’s not THAT rare, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/24 "2006-12-16T03:06:03Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] Right on red is still illegal at most intersections in downtown St. Louis. [/QUOTE] Is that because there are signs, or because of a general traffic rule? ---
**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 16, 2006, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/25 "2006-12-16T03:46:59Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] It’s still there (Long Island Expressway exit approaching Woodhaven Boulevard). [/QUOTE] That’s the one. ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/26 "2006-12-16T15:29:00Z")
I remember a deli near the Holland Tunnel where you could watch the street near an intersection with a traffic light that almost always had a cop waiting near it. Drivers would come through the tunnel and make a right on red at this intersection, which was one of the first ones once you came out. That police precinct made a healthy living off of out-of-staters and upstaters turning right on that light. I used to live in Jersey City and would occasionally drive into the City through the Holland Tunnel. It was a couple of years before I learned that you can’t make a right on red in the City, like you could in Jersey City. How I never got a ticket for it, I’ll never know. Working in my favor was probably the fact that most intersections in New York City are too dangerous to make a right on red at. I remember making rights on red, but I didn’t do it often. I also remember seeing a sign at one intersection that allows a right on red, but I can’t remember where it was. In some places I understand you can make a left on red as long as both are one-way streets. I think that’s the law in New Jersey, and maybe Pennsylvania, but I don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/27 "2006-12-16T15:48:24Z")
Here in California, we know that red lights, speed limits and stop signs are suggestions–or, in Mission Beach, pranks aimed at tourists. ---
**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, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/28 "2006-12-16T15:51:59Z")
It’s legal but dangerous to make a right onto a more-than-2-lane street in Georgia. That’s because when Georgia adopted the right-on-red law, they forgot to prohibit lane changes in intersections. So if there is traffic coming from your left, but not in the lane nearest the curb, and you turn right into the free lane, you could easily be hit by some yo-yo coming from the left and switching lanes in mid-intersection. That wouldn’t happen in California where it is illegal to change lanes in an intersection. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/29 "2006-12-16T17:20:05Z")
But you can change lanes in an intersection as long as it’s safe and you travelling on a normallly travelled portion of the roadway. But driving schools teach you not to do it. It rarely is safe. ---
**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 16, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/30 "2006-12-16T20:37:31Z")
[QUOTE=Yeah] 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? [/QUOTE] I certainly hope they changed it. When my incident happened (1976) the law said you could make a left turn into any lane, which forced the people making rights to sit and wait when they could have safely proceded if left turns had to go into left lanes. ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/31 "2006-12-16T20:54:08Z")
In some (maybe all?) states, left turns on red are legal if the intersecting road is a “one way” street in the left direction (unless a sign states otherwise, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/32 "2006-12-17T19:57:06Z")
[QUOTE=BobT] But you can change lanes in an intersection as long as it’s safe and you travelling on a normallly travelled portion of the roadway… [/QUOTE] In what/which states? When I lived in Kentucky I was told that this was illegal. (Perhaps we need a new thread about this?) ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/33 "2006-12-17T20:16:26Z")
Here is a site that has links to state drivers manuals that are available online: [Driver Manuals](http://www.roadfan.com/driver.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/34 "2006-12-17T20:22:23Z")
This one has links to statutes, too: [State Traffic and Speed Laws](http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/laws.html) ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/35 "2006-12-17T20:32:04Z")
[QUOTE=Rucksinator] In what/which states? When I lived in Kentucky I was told that this was illegal. (Perhaps we need a new thread about this?) [/QUOTE] I just know it’s the law in California. I’m a two-time traffic school graduate! Here are California’s rules on overtaking and passing vehicles: [http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/tocd11c3a3.htm](http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/tocd11c3a3.htm) Basically, you can do so anywhere on the street or highway as long as it’s safe. There is no specific prohibition of changing lanes in an intersection. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/36 "2006-12-17T23:15:36Z")
Another interesting facet of California’s right-turn-on-red laws is that you don’t have to be in the right-most lane to make a right turn on red, as long as all the lanes to your right are right turn only. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/37 "2006-12-18T23:10:34Z")
I’m glad this thread came up. When I moved to Arizona a new friend was very excited to to tell me that we can turn right on red here as long as we stop first. I was wondering if there were any states you _couldn’t_ do that in. But then I was thinking about it, and although it’s legal where I came from (Charlotte, NC), about 80-90% of intersections have “NO RIGHT ON RED” signs. It’s kind of the functional equivalent of a U-Turn, where they’re technically legal but there’s a NO U-TURN sign at every spot where one could be executed. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283/38 "2006-12-19T02:51:53Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Montreal may be the last holdout in North America. [/QUOTE] “Maybe I can’t turn right on a red light, but tabarnak, I can go right _trough_ it!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-states-without-right-on-red-laws/384283.md?page=1)