The Dangers of Rolling Right-Hand Turns
Michael Babboni
Car Accidents
Not everyone likes waiting on a red light, especially when they are in a hurry. However, it needs to be done to ensure your own safety as well as the safety of those around you. But how often do you roll through your right-hand turns? Before making a turn, you should take some precautions.Obey Traffic Signals and Signs
Before making a right turn at a red light, you still need to come to a complete stop with your turn signal on. Always make sure to stop behind the limit line, crosswalk, or intersection. If you roll the stop, you can ultimately end up with a ticket, or it can result in a collision.
Yield to Oncoming Traffic
When coming up to a red light, before taking a turn, you must yield to all incoming traffic. This includes motorcyclists, bikers, and pedestrians. If there is heavier traffic in the intersection, you might be better off waiting for a green light to turn. Patience is important.
Be Mindful
You always need to be mindful of those around you. Watch out for bike lanes and bikers, and look over your right shoulder while putting your signal on to ensure a bike is not coming up behind you. You then need to hug the curb and avoid other traffic lanes. Not doing so can result in a collision.
The Dangers
As you can see, not paying attention and rolling through stops before right-hand turns can result in a collision with other vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
However, are they as dangerous as one might assume?
In some areas, a good majority of their camera tickets are due to not stopping for right-hand turns. These tickets can cost as much as $100 for an offense. Some even stop before turning but fail to stop at the marked line, which can also result in hefty citations.
Such a high rate of right-hand turn tickets prompts some areas to question camera placement for certain intersections. Although the chance of a rolling right-hand turn causing a collision is low, you still need to be cautious and follow traffic laws.
Studies have also shown that right-turn-on-red crashes are rare. The majority of accidents do not occur at or near intersections. It is more likely that a collision will happen with a pedestrian than another vehicle.
The use of red-light cameras at busy intersections, however, has cut down the number of rolling right-hand turns, which is helping keep the intersection and its pedestrians much safer.
If you or someone you know was involved in an accident because a vehicle made a right-hand turn and failed to grant you the right of way in the intersection, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.
It may be in your best interest to contact a reputable and experienced personal injury attorney to help you fight for your rights and the compensation you deserve following this kind of pedestrian accident.