# Where can you not turn red on a red traffic light? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2000, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476 "2000-12-01T00:34:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/21 "2000-12-01T14:33:02Z")
Here in Georgia it’s legal to turn left on red from a one-way street to another one-way street. I don’t think that’s common knowledge; often when I do it (I live in Atlanta) the driver waiting patiently in the next lane looks at me like I’m a dangerous scofflaw. I’ve never heard of a place where you can turn left-on-red from a _two_-way to a one-way. But upon reflection, I can’t think of any good reason not to allow it. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/22 "2000-12-01T14:35:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*Since this hasn’t been restricted to just the US, I’ll add my own data point. > > Turning any direction on red in Japan is illegal… \*\* Same in Britain. It took me a while to get used to it in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/23 "2000-12-01T14:45:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > “Just because you can make a right-on-red doesn’t make it a place worth living in.” > > > > (Of course, the IMDB doesn’t have this quote on its page for the movie. Grr.) > > So add it. The IMDB quotes are all added by its users. > \*\* Yeah, I would. Unfortunately, the above quote is from memory, and I know I have the second half of it wrong. I guess I’ll just have to pop in the _Annie Hall_ DVD tonight… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/24 "2000-12-01T15:12:06Z")
What, you mean you don’t own the script to _Annie Hall_? Here are the appropriate lines. (Rob and Alvy are calling each other “Max” in this scene, for reasons that would take a while to explain.): Rob (Tony Roberts): Right, Max. California, Max. Alvy (Woody Allen): Ah. Rob: Let’s get the hell outta this crazy city - Alvy: Forget it, Max. Rob: - we move to sunny L.A. All of show business is out there, Max Alvy: No, I cannot. You keep bringing it up, but I don’t wanna live in a city where the only cultural advantage is that you can make a right turn on a red light. ---
**Author:** ![stkelly52](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@stkelly52](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stkelly52)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/25 "2000-12-01T16:39:48Z")
Malaysia doesn’t allow left on red. It was sevaral months before someone told me that this wan’t a universal rule. So that’s why everyone looked at me like I was doing something wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Melpomene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Melpomene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melpomene)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/26 "2000-12-01T16:52:30Z")
The East Side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mainly around the university and in a few other scattered spots throughout the city. They are usually in places where there’s so little traffic, pedestrian or otherwise, that you wonder why in the hell they’re there in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/27 "2000-12-01T18:59:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > \*\*What, you mean you don’t own the script to _Annie Hall_? Here are the appropriate lines. > > […] > > Alvy: No, I cannot. You keep bringing it up, but I don’t wanna live in a city where the only cultural advantage is that you can make a right turn on a red light. \*\* Thank you, Wendell! No, sadly, I do not own the screenplay to _Annie Hall_. I should probably get my phantom membership card in the Wannabe Screenwriter’s Guild (I’m not allowed to join the real Writer’s Guild without a sale first). Anyway, that’s the scene I was thinking of. Thanks for the direct quote. BTW, my friend calls me Max because of this movie. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/28 "2000-12-01T19:12:28Z")
We used to visit my brother when he was living in New Jersey. You can’t make a direct left turn there. Well, there are maybe three intersections in the whole state that you can, but the rest are jughandles and circles…oh, what fun! And they don’t let you pump your own gas, either. And they wonder why people don’t like Jersey… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2000, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/29 "2000-12-01T23:24:59Z")
OK, We’ve established that there are many places on Earth that one may legally make a right on red, and that there are many places where one may not. Can this thread now die the death it so richly deserves? ---
**Author:** ![bagkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bagkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagkitty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476/30 "2000-12-02T04:01:27Z")
Here in Calgary Alberta you can turn right on red, and you can also turn left on red, if it is a one-way to one-way… BUT ONLY FROM THE CURB LANE, of course everyone forgets this last bit… CURB LANE ONLY. As a former Montrealer (and a pedestrian), I completely agree with the sentiment that the law prohibiting any turn on a red light should never, ever be repealed for the city of Montreal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-not-turn-red-on-a-red-traffic-light/43476.md?page=1)