In my state of Pennsylvania, and I believe in most states it is legal to make a right turn at a red light. You may treat the red light as a stop sign when making a right turn in a lot of cases.
Ive been driving for 10 years but theres one situation thats always confused me. My question is this:
If the stop light has a right turn arrow signal, can you still make a right turn when the right turn signal is not lit green? Im assuming you can, and I always do. I assume that the right arrow is only to help right turns when traffic is heavy, because without it youd probably sit there for ever and not find an opourtunity to make the right turn. Otherwise if trafic is clear I make the right turn on red without the arrow.
Joined: Aug 02, 2006
Posts: 705
Location: McLean, VA, USA
Posted:
Mon May 11, 2009 9:47 pm
Hi Beans,
And welcome to Fun and Safe driving!
Good question, and I would say I don't know the definite answer. I am doing the same thing as you, just looking around and turning if it does not interfere with the traffic. By the spirit of it this looks like a logical move. However I am not sure I would do the same if I have a police car in sight, just to be on the safe side
Also, sometimes they put signs like "Right turn signal" where I live, and in such a case I don't turn without this signal turning green.
It may sound logical while you are turning when traffic is thin but its not the right way to do. There are chances for accidents. So just wait for the arrow lights to make a turn.
When a light has a green arrow... it means you can make your right turn without stopping. Just keep driving, and turn right, without stopping or overly slowing.
When the right-turn light is red, then you treat it as a stop sign. You stop, look, then go.
Do not "wait for the arrow lights to make a turn", as the previous replyer said. That would be a timid and rude maneuver to the people behind you.
beans wrote:
In my state of Pennsylvania, and I believe in most states it is legal to make a right turn at a red light. You may treat the red light as a stop sign when making a right turn in a lot of cases.
Ive been driving for 10 years but theres one situation thats always confused me. My question is this:
If the stop light has a right turn arrow signal, can you still make a right turn when the right turn signal is not lit green? Im assuming you can, and I always do. I assume that the right arrow is only to help right turns when traffic is heavy, because without it youd probably sit there for ever and not find an opourtunity to make the right turn. Otherwise if trafic is clear I make the right turn on red without the arrow.
I usually look for signs that expressly state that I cannot take the right turn after stopping. (For example, "NO TURN ON RED".) If there isn't one then I assume that it is legal to do so. Unfortunately, their signs aren't always positioned or worded perfectly, so there can be gray areas that leave you stuck wondering.
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