Question: Pretty much everybody knows you can make a right turn on a red light if you stop first and the coast is clear. But Bill Dalton of Gig Harbor wonders, what about intersections where there are two right turn lanes controlled by lights. “Can you make a right on red from either lane after stopping,” Dalton asks, “or only from the lane closest to the curb?”
Answer: Washington State Patrol trooper Guy Gill says you’ll find the traffic lights are red arrows at intersections like that. They apply to both lanes, he says.
“You can make a right turn from either right-turn-only lane unless it’s otherwise posted,” Gill said.
Here’s how RCW 46.61.055 (Traffic Control Signal Legend) puts it: “… vehicle operators facing a steady red arrow indication may, after stopping proceed to make a right turn … unless a sign posted by competent authority prohibits such movement.”
Rob Carson: 253-597-8693
rob.carson@thenewstribune.com
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