Does "NO RIGHT TURN ON RED" mean turn when it's safe?

[winson604]

Usually I'll just obey it. These no right turns on red light are there for a good reason. For example that street in chinatown if your turning right to go onto the dunsmuir bridge it's because the view from cars coming from the east is so bad that if you turn right and a car is speeding down it will get ugly.

[hypediss]

reminds me when i saw 4 consecutive cars turning right on red (when there's a sign that clearly says its not allowed/illegal), this is at the knight street / westminster intersection at richmond.

[Alatar]

The only time you're legally allowed to turn right at a no right turn on red sign is if there's an emergency vehicle behind you that needs to get through.

Quebec just plain and simple has no right turns on red allowed.

[impactX]

^ Actually, emergency vehicle drivers should not initiate code 3 while getting stuck at a redlight and behind cars. They can't legally force you to go into an intersection where you will be violating the law.

There was a lawsuit where an ambulance/firetruck (forgot which one) tried to go code 3 but he's stuck behind a car that's waiting at a redlight and there's median separating the road. The car went into the intersection to let the ambulance/firetruck go through and the car got t-boned. At the end, the liability fell on the ambulance/firetruck driver as he/she should have waited for the green to let the car clear the intersection in a safe manner, then go code 3.

Having said that, if I were the driver, I would try to yield while not jeopardizing my own safety.

[kuri]

Originally Posted by thumper

stupid question about dedicated LEFT turn signals (not right)... if it's red, there is no left turn AT ALL until the next light change, am i correct?

the reason i ask is because just the other day, i was waiting to turn left onto willingdon from lougheed and the turn signal was red. so i stopped and waited, but this woman behind me starts standing on the horn, flips me the bird, then goes around me on the right and pulls into the interection in front of me and turns left like it's an open intersection

Yeah, like what others have said, you're correct.

My friend actually got caught once and I was in the car. The dedicated left turn light turned red, but he still drove up to turn left as if it was an open intersection, I was like WTF but it was too late.

Unluckily for him, the car behind was a cop car so after he made the turn he was immediately pulled over.

Originally Posted by impactY

If its a one way street that you are turning into, it is okay once u are at a complete stop and deem it safe.

To be honest, I did not know this. That's good to know.

[124Y]

I Obey it. There was one on No. 3 road and Cambie, but they took it off afterwards...

[RFlush]

Here is another scenario:

Turning left on a red light from a two way street to a one way street always gets weird looks. ITS LEGAL people, so do it.

[TheKingdom2000]

Originally Posted by RFlush

Here is another scenario:

Turning left on a red light from a two way street to a one way street always gets weird looks. ITS LEGAL people, so do it.

is it? i didn't really know if it was legit and didn't want to get a ticket.

[winson604]

Originally Posted by mx703

is it? i didn't really know if it was legit and didn't want to get a ticket.

Yes you can turn left or right on a red light providing it is safe to do so and you do not cross oncoming traffic.

[danned]

how about the one on victoria @ broadway....
i believe the sign is still there

because before Northern grandview street was closed(in the long time ago)
there was a sign, but the streeet is now closed long time ago
should city worker take this off?

[twitchyzero]

OT
but when you guys stop at red light wanting to turn right...there's peds walking from the other side to your corner and medium amount of traffic..do you just wait until the peds walk across to start peeking forward or just peek forward and expect peds to walk around your car?

[goo3]

Originally Posted by thumper

stupid question about dedicated LEFT turn signals (not right)... if it's red, there is no left turn AT ALL until the next light change, am i correct?

the reason i ask is because just the other day, i was waiting to turn left onto willingdon from lougheed and the turn signal was red. so i stopped and waited, but this woman behind me starts standing on the horn, flips me the bird, then goes around me on the right and pulls into the interection in front of me and turns left like it's an open intersection

In some intersections, it's possible for your direction of traffic to get the yellow->red while oncoming traffic has a full on green to relieve that side's left turn bay of congestion.

So, that lady doesn't really know when oncoming traffic isn't gonna smoke her. But then it sounds like she's not thinking more than 2 steps ahead anyhow.

[danned]

well, let them finished walking
until the yellow light(east-west bound or northsouth bound,) i sneak off

[scheng924]

i always obey as it is the law....

same as i don't run a red just because it's safe to do so.. at 3 am in the morning with no cars... people get pissed but i'm like... i don't care what you think.. a red is a red.. do rules not apply cuz its in the middle of the night?.. i don't think so

[goo3]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

OT
but when you guys stop at red light wanting to turn right...there's peds walking from the other side to your corner and medium amount of traffic..do you just wait until the peds walk across to start peeking forward or just peek forward and expect peds to walk around your car?

on one hand, if you can inch up enough to be out of their way..

on the other, you have the red, so you should let those peds cross, unless you have a daughter, then you should run them down.

[InvisibleSoul]

Originally Posted by danned

how about the one on victoria @ broadway....
i believe the sign is still there

because before Northern grandview street was closed(in the long time ago)
there was a sign, but the streeet is now closed long time ago
should city worker take this off?

Read what I wrote on Post #20.

[E=mc²]

Originally Posted by mx703

is it? i didn't really know if it was legit and didn't want to get a ticket.

totally legit.

No offense, but I really don't understand why so many people don't know this rule or "forgot"?

It's in the Roadsense book, and I even checked the Roadsense book my dad used back in 92 or w/e and they actually state it even clearer there, like they actually have 2 pictures, one for one-way to one-way, another for two-way to one-way. So to those among us who are older and use the older books, it should be even more obvious.

Before we learned to drive, I'm sure we all thought red lights meant no crossing or turning left at all, but right turns were allowed. I don't know any high-schooler who didn't know that. So the minute you study for your L and you read the rules for a red light, you should be amazed because it says you can turn left onto a one-way street, which was contrary to what you previously thought. Shouldn't this stick out?

Iono that's how I felt when I studied for my L back in high school. Same with my friends.

[kuri]

Originally Posted by MXQBLGH

totally legit.

No offense, but I really don't understand why so many people don't know this rule or "forgot"?

It's in the Roadsense book, and I even checked the Roadsense book my dad used back in 92 or w/e and they actually state it even clearer there, like they actually have 2 pictures, one for one-way to one-way, another for two-way to one-way. So to those among us who are older and use the older books, it should be even more obvious.

Before we learned to drive, I'm sure we all thought red lights meant no crossing or turning left at all, but right turns were allowed. I don't know any high-schooler who didn't know that. So the minute you study for your L and you read the rules for a red light, you should be amazed because it says you can turn left onto a one-way street, which was contrary to what you previously thought. Shouldn't this stick out?

Iono that's how I felt when I studied for my L back in high school. Same with my friends.

I think it's confusing because apparently BC is the only province which allows left turns on a red light from a two-way street into a one-way street, and it's only permitted in a few states:

Source: http://www.johncletheroe.org/usa_can/driving/left.htm:

Left turns on a red light from a two-way road into a one-way road are prohibited in most US states due to the greater risk involved in the manoeuvre. Justin JIH (external link verified Jun-03) reports that they are only permitted in Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon and Washington State.

The only part of Canada which permits left turns on a red light from a two-way road into a one-way road is British Columbia.

Not sure if what the site said is true, but if you're doing some out-of-province driving, be careful! At least Washington and Oregon have the same rule though.

[AzNightmare]

I find these signs redundant. I would obey them, but that's exactly why I find them redundant. Why do they need them? If people were better drivers, we would be able to make our own judgements when it's safe to turn and when it's not. Why do we need a sign to tell us that?

I've been stuck at one of these signs before and there's no traffic, but yet I still have to wait. If I recall correctly, there's a traffic light just for "turning right" on king edward merging to kingsway... Somewhere around there. And there have been times when I just said "screw it" and went anyway. Simply because there was no traffic in sight. And there are other times where I felt like a dumbass and sat there waiting for over 1 minute with no cars going by. (1 minute isn't a lot of time, but it's a waste of time in this case).

Up in NorthVan, Dollarton HWY, it's 50km/h up there. Like wtf? A HWY with a 50km/h speed limit? If people seriously need to go that slow on that area, people really should learn how to drive better. These signs are there to try to make driving idiot proof, when they should of just kept idiots from getting on the road in the first place.

Driving is not a right, it's a priviledge. If people are too stupid to know how to make smart driving decisions, they shouldn't have passed their test in the first place.

Originally Posted by CRS

No right turn on Red means no turning when the light is red.

Otherwise, the general rule for right turns on red lights would be come to a complete stop prior to the white line. Wait and when safe, proceed to turn.

People also generally speed when the posted speed limit is 50km/hr but people often disobey this. I don't see how this is any different.

People think it is acceptable to break the rules when no one gets hurt or there is little chance of them being caught. But the weird thing is, if the street is completely empty and it is like 3AM in the morning, and you hit a red light, would you stop and run the red light or would you wait?

Most people would stop and wait for the light to change than speed/stop and go. It is weird how some rules can be broken whereas others even in extreme circumstances will not be.

Anyway, the reason why people are less likely to disobey these signs are because in a sense, they are more similar to making U-turns, running lights, etc. It's more "black and white" than speeding. Where as speeding, usually 60 will almost never get you a ticket. Cops wouldn't bother busting a guy going 60.

[E=mc²]

Originally Posted by kuri

I think it's confusing because apparently BC is the only province which allows left turns on a red light from a two-way street into a one-way street, and it's only permitted in a few states:

Source: http://www.johncletheroe.org/usa_can/driving/left.htm:



Not sure if what the site said is true, but if you're doing some out-of-province driving, be careful! At least Washington and Oregon have the same rule though.

good point! I remember reading that BC was the only province in Canada that allowed left turns on red from a two-way to a one-way. Though I could've easily forgotten.

But people who took their learner's in BC should definitely know this. If they took it in a different province, or in a US state that prohibits this and then moved to BC, then I understand. But I'm willing to bet a large majority from BC don't know this and forgot it after getting their L. Only those who read forums would be aware of this rule (in addition to other minor rules), which sadly, is only a small number of the population.

[danned]

Originally Posted by InvisibleSoul

Who should be contacted to get this sign removed? City of Vancouver?

The only reason that this sign was up was because they used to have a side street that ran diagonal on the southeast corner of Victoria and Broadway, so those going east on Broadway could have turned slightly right to that side street, so those going northbound on Victoria may get hit, which is why they disallowed right turns on red.

BUT... that small side street is long gone now, so I can't see any possible reason why right turns on red should still be disallowed at that corner. The no right turns on red sign should really be removed there...

Yes, because the grandview street is closed long time ago
there was a grandview street with the Traffice Light long time ago

vitoria/broadway and nothern grandview hgw were a intersection

[InvisibleSoul]

Just sent a following note to roadahead@vancouver.ca

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to request the removal of the "No Right Turn on Red Light" sign located on Victoria Drive to the north of the intersection at Broadway in Vancouver.

This sign was placed there when the turnoff to N Grandview Hwy still existed going eastbound on Broadway, but that has been closed for several years now, and there is absolutely no reason to continue disallowing right turns on a red light at that intersection.

I have attached a picture of said intersection for clarification:



Thank you...

[elkayem]

Another spot would be turning onto Arthur Liang bridge, heading to Vancouver from Richmond.

[hk20000]

Knight Street onto Westminster Highway...... no good reason but then considering the speed people MIGHT be travelling towards that intersection it's probably a good idea.

[RFlush]

Originally Posted by elkayem

Another spot would be turning onto Arthur Liang bridge, heading to Vancouver from Richmond.

That intersection has A LOT of accidents. I think that No Right Turn On Red is pretty good as I can see people speeding along the curve and crashing.