Turning Right on Red Requires a Full Stop and a Careful Look

Dear Street Smart:

When an off-ramp has a right-turn lane, a left-turn lane and a middle lane for turning either right or left, is it legal to turn right from the middle lane on a red light?

Linda Lown, Anaheim

It certainly is legal, according to police sources and the state vehicle code. At a T-intersection like you describe, drivers may turn right from the center lane on red. At a regular intersection, drivers may turn right on red from any lane marked for right turns. When turning, motorists must head into the lane corresponding to the one they left. For example, a driver would turn from a curb lane into a curb lane, or from a middle lane into a middle lane.

Drivers should pay extra close attention to make certain that the coast is clear before turning right on red from a lane other than the curb lane, since they will be crossing more lanes of traffic than normal. Of course, they should also be certain to have fully stopped before proceeding to turn. The two letters below take aim at those who turn right without stopping.

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Dear Street Smart:

There seems to be some confusion concerning vehicles making right turns on red lights. All too many times, the drivers of vehicles making right turns on a red light seem to expect those making left or U-turns to yield to them. I have always believed that a vehicle proceeding on a green light has the right of way over one proceeding on a red light. Doesn’t this hold true in the above situation?

George Gillings, Santa Ana

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Dear Street Smart:

I always thought that a driver making a right-hand turn on a red light must bring their vehicle to a complete stop and then proceed to make the right-hand turn with caution. If this is the law, it seems that nobody’s obeying it. Usually the driver making the right-hand turn hurries to beat oncoming traffic with no stop whatsoever.

This rule of coming to a complete stop also applies to stop signs, which nobody seems to obey. It’s no wonder California insurance rates are so high because very few obey traffic laws and the police seem to look the other way

Jacob Hayes, Rancho Santa Margarita

Both readers are correct, of course. Drivers should stop before turning right on a red light. Those failing to do so risk getting a ticket or causing an accident.

Why don’t drivers stop? “Sometimes they are in a hurry. Other times, they didn’t see the signal,” said Sgt. Harold Parkison, of the Anaheim Police Department. In August, the department issued 336 tickets to those running signals and stop signs, second only to the 1,037 tickets issued for speeding.

Another reason drivers don’t stop is that they may mistakenly think a very slow roll is good enough, Parkison said. It’s not--those wheels must stop moving, he said.

The reason for stopping is straightforward: It lets you look around the intersection so that you can know it is safe to turn. Those rolling through risk slamming into cars that may be turning left or making U-turns from the opposite direction.

“Those are real key things that right-turners aren’t paying attention to,” said Richard Worcester, a senior police officer in Irvine.

Sometimes, the danger of hitting another car is so great that turning right on red may be banned. That’s the case on northbound Avenida de la Carlota at Lake Forest, where another Street Smart reader is observing problems.

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Dear Street Smart:

My pet peeve is the disaster that has been created on Avenida de la Carlota at Lake Forest Drive. There are two right-turn lanes from Carlota to Lake Forest. The curbside lane is only for traffic entering the southbound Santa Ana Freeway. This is marked on two signs as you approach the intersection, though not very prominently. The second right-turn lane is for traffic heading east on Lake Forest.

On any given green signal, I would estimate not more than 10% of the people in the curbside lane actually wish to reach the freeway, and thus they must drift quickly into and cut off people in turning from the outside right-turn lane.

I wrote to Caltrans awhile back, after they restructured the intersection and created this mess. Their response was to place a second sign marking the curbside lane as for freeway access only. I bet few people see that sign!

Another problem is that it is clearly marked that no right turns are allowed on the red light, but again, at any given time, at least four or five people turn right on the red. This is dangerous, as there are two lanes of traffic coming off the freeway and turning left into these same lanes.

At no time have I ever seen a ticket given for these violations, and I seriously doubt the problem will ever change if there is no effort to enforce the signs.

Nancy J. Snider, El Toro

Street Smart talked with Orange County Traffic Engineer Ignacio Ochoa about the problems you are having out there. The county jointly manages that intersection with Caltrans.

Ochoa said that he would personally investigate the intersection to see what improvements could be made, since the signs may not be doing a good enough job. Some remedies that may be used are painted markings in each lane, larger signs or even a barrier to keep people from merging into the wrong lane, as you describe.

By the way, that merging is not illegal, if the cars crossing over do so without causing other traffic to slow or avoid them. However, this can be difficult to do since the freeway entrance comes up fast, allowing little time for a safe lane change, Ochoa said.

As for those turning right on red illegally, California Highway Patrol spokesman Bruce Lian said that there aren’t any plans to target that intersection for enforcement since the accident rate is not high. However, that doesn’t mean that those running the light have carte blanche to continue doing so. If an officer’s out there, violators could find themselves ticketed.

A more permanent solution to the intersection’s troubles may come about in a few years, when Caltrans begins widening the I-5 and improving ramps along the freeway. In the meantime, Ochoa said that he would welcome the public’s suggestions about how things might be helped there. If you have an idea, let him know at (714) 834-3484.