Alexandria and DC will limit right turns on red at more intersections.

Following a unusually deadly summer for DC cyclists, increasing fatalities for DC road users and criticism from safe streets advocates, Mayor Bowser returned to her Vision Zero pledge with several new initiatives, includes no right turns on red at more intersections. 

The city also is considering banning right turns on red at 100 locations, according to the District Department of Transportation. The intersections are in school zones and within the central business district or near bike lanes, where the risks to pedestrians are highest, officials said. Drivers will also see more restrictions on left turns at some intersections.

Bowser last month sent a set of new regulations to the D.C. Council establishing tougher penalties for traffic infractions to deter dangerous road behaviors — chiefly speeding. Those are expected to go into effect in December.

But wait, there's more...

• Eliminating areas where two lanes of traffic can turn left at the same time. The city has got rid of 15 of those intersections and plans four more by the end of 2018.
• Doubling protected bike lanes from 10 to 20 miles and accelerating the construction of a dozen of those project in the next three years.
• Adding “hardened” medians to slow vehicles turning left, especially at intersections with a large number of vehicles and pedestrians.
• Expanding the District Department of Transportation’s pick-up and drop-off zones for ride-hailing vehicles and delivery to help reduce the amount of stopping in bike lanes and crosswalks. Five new zones will be added in places like the Wharf and 14th Street.

These are all positive steps with the potential to save lives. Not as many lives as getting people out of their cars and on to transit, bikes and their feet will, but real lives. Kudos to them if they hit these goals. 

 Alexandria is going to follow suit on right turns on red. 

Starting late fall 2018, staff with the Department of Transportation & Environmental Services (T&ES) will install new ‘No Turn on Red’ restrictions as part of the implementation of the City’s Vision Zero initiative to improve safety on our streets.

As part of the Vision ZeroAction Plan, City staff analyzed crash data, industry best practices and research, public input, and also formed an interdepartmental collaboration team to develop a set of Year 1 Engineering Priorities. These engineering priorities are intended to improve safety for all modes of travel, focusing on increasing safety for vulnerable road users (e.g., people walking and biking, children, and seniors). One of these Year 1 Engineering Priorities is to install ‘No Turn on Red’ restrictions at 10 intersections to improve safety for people walking and driving. 

 

Crash data was analyzed for 2011-2016 during the Vision Zero Action Plan process. The data showed that during this time, 445 people walking were involved in crashes with one in seven of those crashes resulting in death or serious injury to the person. Turning-movement crashes were found to be among the most common crash types in Alexandria. 

 

T&ES staff will be implementing a portion of these new restrictions over the coming months. During implementation, T&ES staff advises residents and visitors to stay alert to potential new traffic patterns across the city. 

But Frederick Kunkle at the WaPo isn't so sure that limiting RTOR will make the roads safer and the fact that he cites John Townsend of AAA makes me suspicious right away. 

John B. Townsend II, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said he believes eliminating the right turn on red would be counterproductive. Better engineering design would be preferable than getting rid of right turns on red, he said.

“This might sound counterintuitive, but banning turns or creating a no-turn zone in the District is unlikely to increase traffic safety in the nation’s capital. It would likely decrease it,” Townsend said. He said some research suggests that collisions could increase with a ban on all of these turns, because drivers then have to wait for green — and those vehicles would be moving at full speed. “So you are creating an even greater risk for vulnerable users.”

Except that's not what the paper he cites says. It isn't basing the claim that ending RTOR could cause more crashes on research, but their own hunch.

If prohibiting right turns on red at all intersections would clearly improve pedestrian safety, we would support such a change. However, we do not believe that this is the case. Prohibiting right turn on red would require drivers to turn on green. This would most likely increase the number of collisions by right turning vehicles. It is also intuitive that accidents involving right turn on green are relatively more severe than right turn on red, as vehicles in the former case are moving nearly at full speed.

That last part doesn't make sense. If a car is going full speed then that means they got to the light when it was green. RTOR or not, they're going to turn then. It's not a choice between RTOR or RTOG it's between RTOR and RTOG or just RTOG. The new drivers turning on green would be starting from a stop (and might slow down drivers approaching the intersection who now have to queue up). 

The paper cited also says

sometimes the City and County of San Francisco prohibits RTOR at intersections with high volumes of pedestrians, primarily to keep drivers from infringing on pedestrian right-of-way by creeping into the intersection. We feel this is an appropriate reason to prohibit RTOR, but it is not primarily done for safety reasons. Of course, as noted, we also prohibit RTOR where limited sight distance or unusual roadway geometrics dictate.

Which is what DC and Alexandria are doing.

 

Kunkle also mentions a 1995 NHTSA study that he says shows that RTOR had a negligible impact on on the risk of traffic deaths. Which makes sense, since the study was of entire states - and RTOR as a danger is more of an urban issue. That same report showed that about 20% of all right-turn-on-red crashes involve a person on foot or a bicycle, which is much higher than their rate of other crashes (6%). 

• When a RTOR crash occurs, a pedestrian or bicyclist is frequently involved. For all four states for all years studied, the proportion of RTOR pedestrian or bicyclist crashes to all RTOR crashes was 22 percent.
  
  
• RTOR pedestrian and bicyclist crashes usually involve injury. Ninety-three percent of RTOR pedestrian or bicyclist crashes resulted in injury.
• Slightly less than half (44 percent) of the fatal RTOR crashes involve a pedestrian, 10 percent a bicyclist, and 33 percent two vehicles.

So, RTOR is mostly an issue in cities and banning it is most effective at those intersections with lots of pedestrians and cyclists; but it's not a magic bullet. The number of lives it will save and injuries it will prevent is low. But the whole point of Vision Zero is to take all the steps we can to save lives. 

Also, no one should interview John Townsend with the belief that he is operating in good faith. That's craziness. 

Comments

[Pepper Burly]

I welcome these changes. I feel vulnerable as a pedestrian in both cities.

DC only doubling PBL from 10 to 20 miles is a bunch of crap though. That's not moving nearly fast enough. They should be able to increase them 10 fold every year if they're serious about making safer streets.

[huskerdont]

I like that it's being restricted, but I wish it were all intersections in urban areas. Some drivers just won't care or differentiate. I have to admit that even I, as someone who considers himself a careful driver, have missed a no-turn-on-red sign before and had the SO tell me about it, much to my chagrin. I think a blanket prohibition eliminates some of those accidental turns and just leaves the people who don't care enough to obey the law.

[huskerdont]

And, as long as John Townsend and people like him are at AAA, they will never get a penny from me. If you need that type of travel insurance, please use Better World TC or someone else. Don't support an organization that goes out of its way to make the roads unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists.

[Crickey]

It's totally out of control in DC right now. Cars don't even slow down much to take a right on red. This is vital to save lives.

[Never Old Town]

Right Turn On Red might be safe if everyone followed the law and came to a full stop before making the turn. But we are a society of motorized scofflaws who break the law and put pedestrians and bicyclists at risk to save a few seconds. It’s time for RTOR to be repealed nationwide. It makes our roads dangerous.

[Never Old Town]

John Townsend of AAA failed to realize that RTOR and eliminating it are engineering solutions.

[Alexandriava]

I "Right Turn on Red" is a misnomer, because it implies a permissive action.

You can RTOR only when:
1) It isn't banned in the first place
2) You come to a complete stop
3) You have a clear and safe turning path.

Also, RTOR isn't mandatory, so people who are honking at the guy waiting to make a turn are missing the point. You can opt to not RTOR and you're okay:

Note VA code, with my bolded emphasis.

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/chapter8/section46.2-835/

Notwithstanding the provisions of § 46.2-833, except where a traffic control device is placed prohibiting turns on steady red, vehicular traffic facing a steady red circular signal, after coming to a full stop, may cautiously enter the intersection and make a right turn.

[huskerdont]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has witnessed motorists blowing their horns while queued up behind someone yielding to pedestrians at a RTOR. Run those pedestrians down already!

I would support removing RTOR nationally, although that's not usually how we do things.

[Charles Farley]

When I'm cycling, I wish more car drivers *did* turn right on red after stop.

Too many times I am in a bike lane, stopped for a red light with a car to my left. The car remains stopped while there's no traffic on the cross street. The moment the light turns green, the car driver moves forward, turns right, and almost runs me down as I start to cross the street.

I am not persuaded by any of the posts above that turning right on red is dangerous to cyclists.

[contrarian]

Also, no one should interview John Townsend with the belief that he is operating in good faith. That's craziness.

Relatedly, there were two separate stories on NPR this week about the holiday getaway that quoted AAA spokesmen. Both stories referred to AAA as an "automobile club." Uh, no. They're an automobile lobbying association, always have been.

[Roo_Beav]

RTOR needs to go away in cities. Isn't one of the reasons it became so wide spread was to save fuel waiting at an intersection with no traffic? With today's cars being more fuel efficient and having auto-shut off switches, that reason has largely dried up.

And as others have said, the stopping prior to right on red is too often ignored.

[Stirboo]

I'd prefer a blanket ban on RTOR rather than just at selected intersections, as part of a broad adoption of traffic-calming measures to make DC and Alexandria more liveable for everyone.

From personal experience, there's no disputing that
ROTR is especially dangerous to pedestrians, as the motorist looks left for traffic during the turn and the walker approaches from the right.