Legal in 38 states, as of the end of 2018, according to Wikipedia, plus, apparently, an additional five states that allow a left on red into a one-way street from a two-way street.
I figured we should go to the source, so I found the CA Vehicle Code.
It says nothing about being in the lane closest to the curb. That’s in the Driver’s Ed handbook, not the vehicle code. I used to be a driving instructor, but I never had to address that sort of a right hand turn. Besides, we had to teach to the handbook, so the students would pass their driving test.
Just when my father was teaching me to drive and I didn’t.
Dad: “You didn’t stop there.”
Me: “Nobody was coming.”
Dad: “It’s still a red light.”
I still hear him saying that in my head every time I do it.
That’s a much more generous interpretation than my own, which is they know and figure they can get away with it. Despite seeing dozens of bikers doing both, I’ve never seen one stopped by a cop, so it seems that assumption is largely correct.
As someone who grew up in New Hampshire, I can relay that kids are taught that bikes have to obey lights and signs in school, so natives and those of us who have lived here since early childhood have no excuse for not knowing.
Yes, in CA we have what is called a “Free right turn” or as you call it a protected right turn, which is where the RT has it’s own lane for at least a while and a separate curb with a cut out for the RT.
Then, you do not stop.
Personally, I knew it in utero.
I can’t remember seeing cyclists stopped by cops for anything.
Also in the past month I have noticed cyclists traveling on the wrong side of the road as well. They are supposed to be traveling with the flow of traffic–going in the same direction as motor vehicles. At least 4 times I seen bikes traveling on other side into oncoming traffic almost. I live in a fairly rural area so it is probably not a high priority for the police but a lot of the country roads are tree covered and curvy and cars coming down might not seem them in time to swerve.
And don’t even get me started ranting about all the idiots walking or biking along the roads at night in dark clothing who can barely see until they are almost in front of you.
Right on Red was prohibited everywhere until I was an adult driver, and still is prohibited in Montreal. It was banned in all of Quebec until a decade or so ago. Since 2016, not allowed any more in Mexico City.
I was in my 30s when the practice was first starter, around 1970., as a fuel-saving measure.
I’m not sure everyone is talking about the same thing. In a road with two right turn lanes, if you are in the rightmost one, you have to turn into the rightmost lane of the cross street. If you are in the other one, you have to turn into not the rightmost lane of the cross street. (I know of no cases where two right turn lanes go into a single lane of traffic.
The freeway exit ramp near my house is like this, and I almost use the left right turn lane and turn into the left lane of the cross street.
Yup. I think that’s what I’m talking about. The vehicle code doesn’t address it. It just sys you have to stop and go when safe. It doesn’t require you to be in the the right side right hand turn lane to turn on a red light.
Damn, this is confusing to talk about.
I once had the person behind me honk for about 30 seconds straight trying to get me to turn right on red. I refused to do so because the person in the late to my left had pulled forward about 1/4 of the way into the lane of oncoming traffic and I couldn’t see around them. I refused to pull forward any further. IMHO the problem is that there are just way to many asshole drivers out there.
Last time I looked, the Handbook explicitly mentions that it is NOT the official law, and that courts will follow the law and not the handbook wherever there is a discrepancy. Thanks, Handbook authors, for writing a document that we all use for learning to drive, that you won’t stand by.
Another mini-rant about the Handbook: IIRC, when I learned to drive circa 1968, every law discussed in the Handbook included a cite to the actual law in the Vehicle Code. It no longer has that. So fuck the Handbook and its authors, as far as I am concerned.
I’m not sure we all agree on what a “protected right turn”, or protected anything, is. As I understand it, the term “protected” regarding any motion a driver might make at an intersection, means you have a light facing you that says you can do it AND all other drivers approaching the intersection that might conflict with your motion are stopped by red light.
Thus, for example, you can generally make a left turn when you have a green light as long as there are no oncoming cars, and that’s NOT a protected left turn. But if you have a green left arrow, that means that opposing traffic and cross traffic all have red lights so you can blithely make your left turn. That’s a “protected” left. Similarly with green arrows pointing right: That means cross traffic from the left is stopped so you can make your right turn immediately.
ETA: There are those new-ish left-turn rules that I don’t think we have in California yet: A left green arrow is a “protected left” (that much we’ve had for years), while a flashing yellow left arrow is an “unprotected left” (meaning you can turn left when there’s no opposing traffic). At least, I think that’s how it works. I’ve seen them in Oregon and Nevada.
The vehicle code and the handbook both address ALL turns. Unless specifically excepted, those rules would govern permitted turns when a red light is showing.
Yes, we have those in Oregon. The county I’m in (Washington County) was one of the first in the country to get them and most intersections have it. But most only have it for two directions. Not sure why, but I don’t think it’s because the traffic lights can’t be programmed to do it for all four. There’s a few intersections that do have it for all four directions.
One thing to note is you won’t get the flashing yellow arrow when the crosswalk signal is on. When they first put it in, that wasn’t the case and they had lots of pedestrian accidents/near accidents. So they had to reprogram the lights.
As a legally-blind pedestrian, I never cross near a controlled intersection. They scare the shit out of me. I walk far enough up the street until I have a full view of the traffic coming in the lane I am about to cross, from only one direction…
(12 weeks later)
I had a coworker who got a ticket for speeding on his bicycle, 45 in a 35 zone, the radar said.
He figured the cop had tagged somebody in an auto going the other way. He went to court and told the judge, “Your honor, if I could pedal a bike at 45mph, I’d be in the Olympics!” The ticket got tossed.
Not everywhere even in the US. Connecticut, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Dakota (unless permitted by local ordinance), the District of Columbia, and Guam.[17] New York City prohibits left turn on red unless a sign indicates otherwise [from Wikipedia].
One time, my father thought he could make a LEFT turn on red.
That was the last time he was allowed to drive, before his Alzheimers diagnosis.
This was drilled into me in Driver’s Ed. But I think someone has neglected to inform the drivers here in Hawaii.