(Chicago) A dramatic increase in accidents killing or injuring pedestrians and cyclists has led to a real questioning of the right turn allowed on red lights in the United States.
The Washington City Council last year approved a ban on right turns on red lights that will take effect in 2025. New Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition plan called for “restricting right turns on red ”, but his administration did not provide details. The college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, now bans right turns on red lights in the downtown area.
San Francisco leaders recently voted to urge their transportation agency to ban red citywide, and other major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle and Denver have also considered the ban.
“Drivers shouldn’t be able to decide for themselves when they think it’s safe,” says Sophee Langerman, who was hit by a car in June while riding her bike. “People are busy. People are distracted. »
But Jay Beeber, executive director of policy for the National Motorists Association, a drivers’ advocacy organization, says assuming such blanket bans would make streets safer is “a fallacy.”
He cited an upcoming study from his association that analyzed California crash data from 2011 to 2019 and found that drivers turning right on red accounted for only about one pedestrian death and less than one road death. cyclist across the state every two years.
“What’s really behind this movement is part of the agenda to make driving as painful and difficult as possible so that people will drive less,” Mr. Beeber said.
The United States is one of the few major countries that generally allows right turns on red. Fearing that cars idling at red lights would worsen the energy crisis, the U.S. government warned states in the 1970s that they could risk some federal funding if cities banned idling at red lights except in specific and clearly indicated areas.
Running red lights has never been allowed in most of New York City, where large signs warn visitors to Manhattan that the practice is prohibited there. But it was the default policy virtually everywhere else in the United States until last year’s vote in the nation’s capital.
Safety advocates who have pushed for change in Washington are bracing for backlash from drivers, particularly if the city also allows the so-called Idaho Stop, in which cyclists are allowed to pass a red light after having stopped to ensure that the way is clear.
It doesn’t make sense to treat cars and bikes the same. It’s not the same vehicle, and we’ve seen the results of that.
Jonathan Kincade, communications coordinator at the Washington Area Bicyclists Association
Critics argue that banning red-light turns will hamper motorists and also slow down commuter buses and delivery vehicles. UPS has not taken an official position in favor of right turns at red lights, but has long asked its drivers to avoid left turns whenever possible, considering them inefficient.
Few statistics
There are no recent nationwide studies on the number of people injured or killed by right-turning drivers. Most research directly examining the impact of right-shift policies on red light is several years, if not decades, old.
More than 7,500 pedestrians were struck and killed by automobiles in 2022, the highest number since 1981, according to a national report from the Governors Highway Safety Association.
The spike, which includes all crashes, not just those involving right turns on red lights, was attributed in part to an increase in the number of larger vehicles, such as SUVs and pickup trucks, on the roads.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that the odds of a pedestrian being killed if struck by a right-turning automobile were 89% higher when the vehicle was a pickup truck and 63% higher when it was an SUV, due to the larger blind spots and risks associated with heavier vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a 1994 report to Congress, examined four years of crash data from Indiana, Maryland and Missouri and three years of data from Illinois, counting a total of 558 crashes injuries and four deaths due to right turns on red lights. Supporters of a ban point out that the study was done before the nation’s car fleet became much larger and more deadly.
“One injury or one death is too many,” said Washington state Sen. John Lovick, the lead sponsor of a bill this year that would have banned right turns on red lights throughout the state. ‘State near schools, parks and some other places
His bill did not pass out of committee, but Seattle adopted as a default policy this year to prohibit turning on red lights when new traffic lights are added.