Sophee Langerman was on her way to a bicycle safety rally in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood in June when a car turned right at a red light and crashed into her bicycle, which she was walking off the curb and onto the sidewalk.
The car moved so slowly that Langerman escaped serious injury, but the bike needed extensive repairs.
For Langerman, this is another argument for ending a practice that almost all US cities have accepted for decades: the legal prerogative for drivers to turn right after stopping at a red light.
A sharp rise in accidents that kill or injure pedestrians and cyclists has led to a host of policy and infrastructure changes, but the move to ban straight on red has drawn some of the most intense sentiment on both sides.
The Washington, DC City Council last year passed a right-on-red ban that goes into effect in 2025.
New Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition plan calls for “limiting right turns to red,” but his administration did not provide specifics.
The college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, now prohibits right turns at red lights in the downtown area.
A sharp increase in accidents that kill or injure pedestrians and cyclists has led to a range of policy and infrastructure changes, but the move to outright ban the color red has stoked sentiment on both sides.AP
San Francisco leaders recently voted to urge their transportation agency to ban the color red citywide, and other major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and Denver have considered bans as well.
“Drivers shouldn’t have the option to make their own decisions when they think it’s safe,” said Langerman, 26. “People are busy. People are disturbed.”
But Jay Beeber, executive director for policy at the National Drivers Association, an advocacy organization for drivers, called it a “mistake” to think such a blanket ban would make the roads safer.
Last year, the Washington, DC City Council passed a right-on-red ban that goes into effect in 2025. AP
He cited an upcoming study by his association that analyzed California crash data from 2011-2019 and found that drivers turning right on red accounted for only about one pedestrian death and less than one bicyclist death statewide every two years.
“What’s really behind this movement is part of an agenda to make driving as miserable and difficult as possible so people don’t drive as much,” Beeber said.
Safety advocates argue that official accident reports are often mislabeled, downplaying the danger.
The United States is one of the few major countries that generally allows right turns on red.
Concerned that cars idling at stop lights could cause an energy crisis, the US government warned states in the 1970s that they could risk some federal funding if cities banned going on red, except in certain areas marked with clear
While another energy-conscious provision limiting the speed limit to 55 mph has long since been abandoned, right on red has endured.
“It’s an example of bad policy,” said Bill Schultheiss, director of engineering at Toole Design Group, which consults with public transportation agencies. “It makes sense in the context of the gas crisis, but it’s oversold on what it will achieve. It’s a mandate that doesn’t take into account the full consequences.”
Red-rights are never allowed across most of New York City, where large signs warn Manhattan visitors that the practice is prohibited.
But it was the default policy almost everywhere else in the US until last year’s vote in the nation’s capital.
Safety advocates pushing for change in Washington, DC, are bracing for blowback from drivers, especially if the city also allows so-called Idaho Stops where cyclists are allowed to go through red lights after stopping to keep the coast. clear
“There are some battles, in terms of public opinion, where you have to be content to sacrifice that for public safety,” said Jonathan Kincade, communications coordinator at the Washington Area Bicyclists Association. “It doesn’t make sense to treat cars and bicycles the same. They are not the same vehicle, and we have seen the results of that.”
Critics argue that banning the right on red will not only inconvenience drivers but also slow down commuter and delivery buses.
In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan calls for “limiting the right to turn red,” though his administration has yet to provide specifics. AP
United Parcel Service does not take an official right-of-way position on red but has long instructed its drivers to avoid left turns whenever possible, viewing them as inefficient.
Priya Sarathy Jones, deputy executive director at the Center for Fine and Fee Justice, worries that penalties from the right-on-red ban will fall disproportionately on low-income drivers who have to drive to work because they can’t afford homes near public transit.
If there is more enforcement at red lights, more cameras will surely follow, he said.
And in the Chicago area, any discussion of red-light policy often evokes memories of the region’s much-maligned red-light camera program, which prompted corruption charges against public officials accused of trying to influence lucrative contracts.
According to a national report by the Governors Highway Safety Association, more than 7,500 pedestrians will be struck and killed by cars in 2022, the highest number since 1981. AP
“It’s generating a lot of money for the city, rather than our decisions being driven by evidence-backed safety strategies,” he said, suggesting that improving road infrastructure would be a more effective way to reduce accidents.
There are no recent nationwide studies of the number of people injured or killed by right-turning drivers.
According to a national report by the Governors Highway Safety Association, more than 7,500 pedestrians will be struck and killed by cars in 2022, the highest number since 1981.
The increase, which includes all crashes — not just those involving red right turns, is partly attributed to an increase in larger vehicles such as SUVs and pickup trucks on the road.
Start your day with everything you need to know
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that the likelihood of a pedestrian being killed when struck by a right-turning car is 89% higher when the vehicle is a pickup truck and 63% higher when it is an SUV, due to larger and more deadly blind spots. forces associated with heavier models.
“These big, blunt front hoods, they’re knocking people over and running over them, unlike before when people would crumple over the hood,” said Mike McGinn, a former Seattle mayor who is the executive director of America Walks, a national nonprofit that advocates pedestrian friendly neighborhood.
Most research looking directly at the impact of red-right policies is years if not decades old, but both sides argue it is still relevant.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a 1994 report to Congress looked at four years of crash data from Indiana, Maryland, and Missouri and three years of data from Illinois, calculating a combined 558 injury crashes and four deaths attributable to red right turns.
Proponents of the ban point out that the study was done before the nation’s vehicle fleet grew much larger and deadlier.
But Beeber said a California National Motorists Association study found that even when there are crashes associated with red right turns, at least 96% of injuries sustained by pedestrians or bicyclists are minor.
“One injury or death is too many,” said Washington state Sen. John Lovick, the lead sponsor of this year’s bill that would ban spotting across red states near schools, parks, and certain other locations. “If I’m at that crossroads, I want something done.”
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that the likelihood of a pedestrian being killed when struck by a right-turning car is 89% higher when the vehicle is a pickup and 63% higher when it is an SUV. AP
Lovick’s bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Seattle this year made it the default policy to prohibit going straight on red when new traffic signals are added.
Melinda Kasraie testified on behalf of Lovick’s bill at a legislative hearing, sharing her experience of being hit by a car turning right on red in Seattle.
He needed a total knee replacement, had to give up his job of 20 years, and moved to a small town in part because of his newfound fear of crossing the street.
“He only has to wait 20 more seconds and he’ll get the green light, and those 20 seconds had a big impact on me,” Kasraie said.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
