RED LIGHT LEFT TURNS

Press Release from PACTS

2 June, 2006

“Pedestrians and cyclists may be put at risk by plans to allow vehicles to turn left at a red light”, said Emily Crawford, Policy and Campaigns Officer at the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety [PACTS]. “It would remove the pedestrian-only phase of traffic lights and could cause confusion over priority”.

John Redwood MP, co-chair of the Conservative Party’s economic competitiveness policy group outlined plans today to allow left turns at red lights amongst a range of measures that he argues will reduce congestion and increase safety in London.

Ms Crawford went on, “It is true that traffic is permitted to turn at red lights in other countries, such as the USA and some parts of Australia. However, one of the issues here is that the road environment in London compared to Canberra, Australia, is completely different. London is a congested metropolis of 7 million people, with very high vehicle and pedestrian flows at thousands of junctions; Canberra is a small, car-era city of 320,000 people with far fewer pedestrians and wide roads. There is a far higher likelihood of conflict between different road user groups in London”.

Cyclists in particular may be at risk. London has seen a steep increase in the number of people cycling and, where a driver is looking to the right in anticipation of turning left may not see a cyclist approaching from behind and on the left.

Although the evidence on the impact of turns on a red light is not yet conclusive, a report prepared for Transport for London by the Transport Research Laboratory stated that, following the introduction of this policy in the USA in 1973, significant increases in motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian collisions were reported, with pedestrian collisions increasing from 1.47 to 2.28 per year at signalised intersections. It went on to comment that a cause of the rise was that vehicles frequently failed to stop completely before turning. Swedish studies cited in the report note that turning vehicles frequently failed to give priority to pedestrians.¹

Ms Crawford said that, “Introducing left turns at red lights to a busy, crowded city like London increases the likelihood of conflict between road user groups and so would risk increases in casualties for vulnerable road users”.

¹ http://www.tfl.gov.uk/streets/downloads/pdf/factors-influencing-pedestrian-safety.pdf (28)

DSA Comment:  From several years’ of observing the “right on red” practice in the USA, I would personally add that failing to physically stop the vehicle before turning on red – with that stop being a legal requirement – is almost universally the case on America’s roads. Ignoring this safety requirement is effectively endemic in the USA, and if safety is to be improved, the “turn on red” provision should be banned.

     The Conservative Party in Britain would be well advised to drop this misguided proposal immediately. Any such provision serves only to further exacerbate the focus many drivers have on putting the convenience of an uninterrupted journey ahead of any concern for other people’s safety.

Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc.