In a rush to get to wherever you need to go, you come to a right on red traffic light… but not for long.
Right on red turns are looking to be banned in many cities. Many pedestrians and cyclists have been injured or killed due to right on red turns – that is, when an automobile approaches a stop sign or red light, but is permitted to turn after a complete stop. Right on red went into effect when the U.S was concerned about compounding an energy crisis. It was reported that right on red didn’t make much of a difference for gas consumption and instantly affected roadway safety. The U.S is one of the only major countries that allows right turns on red.
Students in Triton who don’t have their license will often bike to places they need or want to go to. Banning right turns on red would allow them to cross the street more safely and relieve stress of getting injured while biking on main roads that have these kinds of policies.
On the other side of this, upperclassmen at Triton drive all over Massachusetts every week. If right on red gets banned it will impact the lights they hit that allow them to turn right on red. This policy is convenient for drivers but not so much for cyclists and pedestrians.
When asked if there were any protocols or rules that he had to teach student drivers to follow, when he worked in a driving school about safely turning right on red, Mr. Ed Suprin said there were.“My method was to tell them that the principle at the light is to stop, look left first because that’s where the traffic is coming from, step two: you then look straight ahead, make sure no one is coming from that direction, then step 3, before you make the turn is to look for a pedestrian at the corner trying to cross, and then from that point you make the procedure to go through.”
This topic has not been very popular but has been an ongoing issue all over the world for decades. Some people believe cyclists and motorists are not the same therefore they should not be treated as the same, but banning right on red will inconvenience motorists and slow down commutes for buses and deliveries.
Triton senior Reese Renda said, “Right on red turns are stressful. If you go through the right on red stop and don’t pay attention to both sides of the road and you get hit or you hit someone else, it will be all your fault.”
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, right on red turns have officially been banned. Half of Cambridge’s intersections have already been prohibited for motorists to turn right on red. This will eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries while increasing safety on the road, officials say.
