I am an impatient driver. I drive too fast. Right turn on red was made for me.
I also take advantage of a little known law: “left turn on red.”
Stop laughing. I’m not kidding. Here’s what Wikipedia says:
Pretty cool, huh? And, it makes sense. One way to one way left on red is no more perilous than right on red.
There’s one particular left on red I often make. It’s at the intersection of College Street and South Frontage Road (Rte 34) in New Haven. I’ve been doing it for years to the amazement of passengers, including my own skeptical family. It only saves a few seconds, but who cares? That’s not the point.
I happened to stumble upon an article about left on red tonight. It was serendipity… and being the ‘left on red’ man, I read along.
Really?
I am so embarrassed! And, I am so relieved to learn about this by reading, as opposed to learning about it from a cop!
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Tags: Alaska, College Street, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Guam, Idaho, impatient driver, little known law, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, red law, Rhode Island, South Dakota, United States, Washington
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on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 at 1:33 am
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I’m not so sure it’s illegal – At least in New Haven. – Or at least, it WAS legal at one point in the relative recent past. I remember looking at some law books in the library once, and finding a law stating that left turn on red was legal in New Haven (City Ordinance). I’ll have to see if I can find something.
Wow! I’ve been pulling those in DC for years! Guess there’s never been a cop around. Traffic would get too backed up in some areas if you didn’t make a left on red!
Unless that is true about the New Haven City Ordinance, the likely penalty would be an infraction ticket; CT Statute # 14-299, Failure to Obey a Control Signal, which carries a $124 fine, or maybe Statute #14-242, Restricted Turn, which carries a fine of $103.
It’s also legal in Puerto Rico to treat a stop light as a stop sign after dark. I believe I was told that this was due to crime.
-A
My husband has made 2 left on red turns-both resulting in large traffic fines,considered MOVING VIOLATIONS!!!