Recently met a friend for lunch, and she told me this is being considered as a way to combat gridlock in North Carolina.
What do y’all think? Can it work?
Q
Several possibilities arise:
From a one-way street to a one-way street? Legal already, isn’t it?
From a two-way to a one-way? From a one-way to a two-way? From a two-way to a two-way?
Any of these might lead to confusion, which, in the world of one-tonne metal juggernauts, is Not a Good Thing.
Would this be generally, or at specially-signed intersections?
Why not just take the light out and put up a stop sign? Saves electricity!
no. but i know that some places (iowa in particular) it’s aight to turn left on red from a one way onto a one way.
Left on red is always (AFAIK) with reference to two one-way streets. It’s legal in New York State (with, I believe, the exception of New York City) unless specifically prohibited by signage at the intersection. Some other jurisdictions apparently permit it as well.
The downtowns of several large NC cities have a plethora of one-way streets, and it’s being contemplated as a state law here.
Sunspace… I defy you to show me a production vehicle sold in the US which only weighs one ton…
In Toronto they’ve recalibrated the sensors to allow triggering by bicycles. There are three dots in a row on the road indicating the location to stop the bike so that the sensor will pick it up. Seems to me it’d work for motorcycles as well.
dutchboy208, one tonne = 1000 kg = >2000 pounds. I know that’s at the lighter end of the scale for vehicles, but surely there are some? I thought saying two tonnes was overdoing it.
I am thinking of an intersection near my home. 3 lanes in each direction and a center turn lane. Anyone who DOES wait for the left turn arrow at 2:am should be pulled over on suspicion of DUI. Then again, I’d hate to see what happens in the same place at high noon when ambitious young bucks in their ricers attempt to race oncoming 1-5 tonne Fords through the intersection.
Of course, when I’m sitting impatiently in my left turn lane, staring at a red arrow, I am doing so not only for the convenience of oncoming traffic. I’m being held in place so my left/right traffic can pass unmolested by my gas-guzzling 18-tonne SUV. I see the same signal, “don’t move” for constantly changing reasons.
If I’m turning right on a red, I’m affecting traffic coming from my left and MAYBE oncoming traffic turning left (probably against a red light!).
If I’m turning left on a red, I am affecting traffic from my left, from my right, and oncoming. Considering the possibility of multiple lanes in each direction of travel, you have something like 3 times the possibility for an accident-causing miscalculation. I’m confident I can handle it, but what about the rest of the folks on the road?
What are you going to do to the red arrow to let me know what the other signals are doing? Turn it amber? Make it flash?
To make this work it’s probably best for the cops to adopt a policy of “non-enforcement” when you are obviously in the clear.
Actually, in WA, the street you’re on doesn’t matter. You’re allowed to turn left on red onto a one-way street from either a one- or two-way street.
Two-way to two-way seems like you’re asking for disaster, though.
Not in North Carolina. It has been discussed annually in the state legislature for the past few years, but blocked by persons claiming it would endanger blind pedestrians.
Most cars weigh over 3,000 pounds and push the 4,000 pound barrier.
My Ford Ranger weighs about 3500 pounds. A Ford Excursion weighs somewhere around 6500 pounds.
I think the Sentra I used to have weighed around 2000, though.
In DC there is NO left turn on red, regardless of the traffic flow on the streets in question. I asked this question on the DC’s web site and was told that this is one of the most frequently asked questions regarding DC traffic law.
So stop honking your horn at me when I’m sitting at a red light waiting to turn left! Even in states where it’s legal, I don’t trust the horn in the car behind me to tell me what’s okay and not okay to do.
Many volkswagen beetles were less than 2000 lbs. I think the lightest ones were close to 1500 lbs.
Does this “left turn on red” mean when the cross-traffic had green? That sounds insane! More likey (verify it?) the left-turn on red is for when your own road’s traffic has the green, right? If that’s the case, we do that in Michigan at quite a few spots. Flashing red light means it’s okay to turn left when the opposing traffic is cleared. Later you’ll get the green arrow. If you can’t go, then the light just stays red – no flashing. Seems to work okay, and I just took it for granted it was universally applied where applicable. Except in Windsor, ON. I think they use a flashing green light instead of an arrow. I just do what the other cars do, and hope I’m not first at the light at those kinds of intersections.
I live in NC…it didn’t go anywhere. Concern was over the blind crossing the street…changing the rules on them could be dangerous.
Wouldn’t that be a left turn on green? And that has to be legal already, since at most intersections that’s the only way to make a left turn.
And Matchka:
If the intersection is that uncrowded at 2:00 AM, don’t they switch it to flashing red/flashing yellow? Flashing yellow means “proceed with caution”, while flashing red means “stop and look, then proceed” (same as a stop sign). In Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana, at least, it’s customary for intersections to go to flashing at slow times, like late at night.
Where I am they turn over most lights, but not all of them–so it’s conceivable that in the early morning an extremely law-abiding citizen would have to stop and wait for an entire light cycle. I know around where I live there’s one light in particular that never switches over (even though the road tends to be completely empty). Of course, I always get there when it’s red…