In Washington, D.C., drivers will be banned from turning right at a red light beginning on Jan. 1, 2025, but officials in the district’s Department of Transportation are suggesting it may not be enforced.
The Council of the District of Columbia voted in favor of the ban in 2022, but the Department of Transportation told the Washington Post it has opposed the blanket ban due to confusion for Virginia and Maryland drivers, where right on red is largely legal, and that the council has not given the funds to warn drivers about the ban.
“Many of the cars on our roads are coming from Maryland, Virginia, where it’s OK to turn right on red,” department Director Sharon Kershbaum told the news outlet. “We don’t think it’s safe … without signs to just assume that because it’s law of the land that people are going to be aware and comply with it.”
She also told the outlet that an advertising campaign “doesn’t add any more value than our approach, that we can do with our current budget.” The department argues it could make it difficult to enforce in the new year.
The 2022 law had said $385,000 would need to be allocated for signs and advertisements about the ban, but the funds have yet to be budgeted, according to the report. Councilman Charles Allen told the newspaper that he expected the agency would be able to “absorb” the cost and that the department “did not make clear that the lack of money would mean the ban was in limbo.”
The district’s Department of Transportation has opposed the blanket ban since it was proposed in 2022, instead favoring a case-by-case basis for banning right turns at red lights at intersections.
“DDOT expressed a strong desire to stick to its current posture, and only effectuate NTOR by installing signage on a case-by-case basis, and only after conducting an analysis of the intersection. DDOT’s main rationale is that changing the underlying law and making NTOR the default at un-signed intersections will lead to low levels of compliance and confusion for drivers, many of whom come from other jurisdictions where right on red is allowed,” a council committee report from 2022 said.
Laws permitting right turns at red lights began to take effect in the 1970s as part of fuel-saving measures during the various gas shortages throughout the decade. Every state allows right turns on red, but some cities, most famously New York, have not permitted the traffic procedure.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In recent years, there has been a push to outlaw allowing right turns at red lights over concerns for pedestrian safety.
Washington, D.C., Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, have all passed bans on right turns at red lights, and other cities have explored doing so as well. In the District of Columbia, the safety of pedestrians and cyclists was one of the top reasons for those favoring a ban.