A commercial vehicle turns right on a red light at an intersection where right turns are prohibited in Chicago, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. The dramatic increase in accidents killing and injuring pedestrians and cyclists has led to countless policy and infrastructure changes, but the move to ban red lights has stirred the most intense emotions on both sides. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Written by Jeff McMurray (Related Press)
CHICAGO (AP) — Sophie Langerman was on her way to a bicycle safety rally in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood in June when a car turning right ran a red light and overturned, attempting to veer off the curb and into a crosswalk. It collided with Sophie Langermann’s bicycle.
Because the car was moving slowly, Langerman was not seriously injured, but his bike required extensive repairs. For Langerman, this is another argument for ending a practice that nearly every American city has embraced for decades: the legal privilege of drivers to turn right after stopping at a red light.
The dramatic increase in accidents killing and injuring pedestrians and cyclists has led to countless policy and infrastructure changes, but the move to ban red lights has stirred the most intense emotions on both sides.
The Washington, D.C. City Council last year approved an equatorial right-turn ban that goes into effect in 2025. Chicago’s new Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition plan calls for “restrictions on red right turns,” but his administration has not released any details. The college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, currently prohibits right turns at red lights in the downtown area.
San Francisco leaders recently passed a resolution calling on transit agencies to ban red lights citywide, and other major cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle and Denver, are considering similar bans.
“Drivers shouldn’t be given the option to decide for themselves when they think it’s safe,” said Langerman, 26. People get distracted. ”
But Jay Beaver, executive director of policy at the American Motor Vehicle Association, a driver advocacy group, said it would be a “fallacy” to think such a blanket ban would make roads safer.
He cited an upcoming study by the association that analyzed California crash data from 2011 to 2019, showing that drivers turning right on a red light cause about one pedestrian death every two years across the state. It said less than one cyclist was found to have died.
“What’s really behind this movement is part of a plan to make driving as miserable and difficult as possible so people don’t drive as much,” Beaver said.
Safety advocates counter that official accident reports often underestimate and misrepresent risks.
The United States is one of the few major countries that generally allows right turns on red lights. Concerned that cars idling at traffic lights could further exacerbate the energy crisis, the U.S. government in the 1970s ordered states to ban cities from running red lights, except in certain clearly marked areas. They warned that if they do so, they risk losing some federal funding. Another energy-focused provision that limited the speed limit to 55 miles per hour has long been repealed, but the red light right has survived.
“This is an example of bad policy,” said Bill Schultheis, director of engineering at Tour Design Group, which works with public transit agencies and consults. “It made sense given the circumstances of the gas crisis, but it was vastly overestimated for what it would accomplish. It’s a mission that doesn’t take into account the full consequences.”
In most parts of New York City, driving on the right side of a red light is never allowed, and large signs warn visitors to Manhattan that the practice is prohibited there. But until last year’s vote in the nation’s capital, it was effectively the default policy in the rest of the country.
Safety advocates who pushed for the change in Washington, D.C., feared pushback from motorists, especially if the city also allowed so-called Idaho stops, which allow people to go through a red light after stopping to check along the coast. We are preparing for clear.
“From a public opinion standpoint, there are some battles where you have to be comfortable sacrificing that for people’s safety,” said Jonathan Kincaid, communications coordinator for the Washington Area Bicycle Association. “It makes no sense to treat cars and motorcycles the same way. They are not the same vehicle, but we have seen the results.”
Critics say banning driving on the right side of a red light will not only inconvenience drivers but also slow down commuter buses and deliveries. United Parcel Service does not take an official position on left-hand turns, but it believes they are not efficient and has long told drivers to avoid them whenever possible.
Priya Sarathy Jones, deputy executive director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, said the right-on-red light ban would benefit low-income drivers who must drive to work because they can’t afford to live near public transit. They are concerned that penalties will be disproportionately imposed. As red light enforcement increases, more cameras are sure to follow, she says. And in the Chicago area, discussions of red light policy often conjure up memories of the region’s maligned red light camera program, which brought charges against public officials for trying to influence lucrative contracts. This led to charges of bribery.
“It’s a lot of money being made for cities instead of decisions being made based on evidence-backed safety strategies,” she said, adding that road infrastructure improvements are a more effective way to reduce accidents. suggested that.
There have been no recent national studies of how many people are injured or killed by right-turning drivers.
More than 7,500 pedestrians will be hit and killed by motor vehicles in 2022, the most since 1981, according to a national report from the Governors Highway Safety Association. This spike included all accidents, not just right-turn accidents at red lights. This is partly due to the increase in large vehicles such as SUVs and pickup trucks on the roads.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that a pedestrian is 89% more likely to die in a collision with a right-turning vehicle, compared to a pickup vehicle that has a large blind spot and is 63% more likely to die in an SUV. did. Force associated with heavier models.
“These big, blunt front hoods push people down and run them over,” said Mike McGinn, former Seattle mayor and executive director of the national nonprofit America Walk. It’s in stark contrast to the previous days.” We advocate pedestrian-friendly areas.
Much of the research directly examining the impact of pro-red policies is years, if not decades old, but both sides argue that it is still relevant.
In a 1994 report to Congress, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration examined four years of accident data from Indiana, Maryland, and Missouri, and three years of data from Illinois, and found that right turns on red lights There were a total of 558 accidents resulting in injuries and 4 accidents resulting in death. Proponents of the ban point out that the study was done before the nation’s car fleet became much larger and more deadly.
But Beaver said research by the California National Motor Vehicle Association shows that at least 96% of injuries sustained by pedestrians and cyclists are minor, even in accidents involving right-turns on red lights. He said it was clear.
“One injury or death is one too many,” said Washington state Sen. John Robick, the lead sponsor this year of a bill that would ban red-light traffic across the state near schools, parks and certain other locations. said. “If I were you at that intersection, I would want you to do something.”
Robick’s bill did not pass out of committee, but the city of Seattle made it its default policy this year to prohibit driving on the right at red lights when new traffic lights are added.
Melinda Kazurai testified on behalf of Robic’s bill at a Congressional hearing and told the story of being hit by a car turning right at a red light in Seattle. She needed a total knee replacement, had to quit her job of 20 years, and, due in part to a newfound fear of crossing the road, she Moved to town.
“If I had waited another 20 seconds, the light would have been green. Those 20 seconds had a huge impact on me,” Kasrai said.