Restricting Right Turns on Red

[danbrotherston]

Not sure what the discussion and status  of this issue is but any change such as no right turn Region wide would require provincial approval. IMO this would not be approved.

I don’t see why the Region couldn’t make and sign every single signalized intersection as “no right on red”.

That being said, I think the decision should be made case by case. There are many intersections where it’s hard to see a problem with it. If there is good visibility aided by the geometry of the intersection I don’t see why turning right on a red after checking for pedestrians on the intersecting street is inherently any more problematic than turning right on a green after checking for pedestrians on the initial street.

The reason is simple, when you have the green, you proceed with a right turn immediately. When you have the red you have to wait an indeterminate amount of time while looking left for a space in traffic. When there is a space you then have to check right again for pedestrians who might have approached while you were waiting. But most drivers don’t do this, they simply go because they are under pressure to fit in the space in traffic. This is so prevalent that pedestrians know to be wary of drivers in that position.