The Effect of Right-Turn-on-Red on Pedestrian and Bicyclist Accidents

NHTSA - Behavioral Safety Researchhttps://doi.org/10.21949/15251021981PDFResearch PaperPreusser, David F.Leaf, W. A.DeBartolo, Karen B.Blomberg, Richard D.Dunlap and Associates, inc.United States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationUnited States. National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationNew YorkOhioWisconsinLos Angeles (California)New Orleans (Louisiana)PedestriansBicyclesRight turn on redPedestrian accidentsBicycle accidentsAccident ratesTime series analysisBefore and after studiesDOT-HS-806-182ED81-9PB82238445DOT-HS-6-01411Final reportRight-Turn-On-Red (RTOR) in its "Western" or "permissive" version allows motorists to turn right on a red signal after stopping unless prohibited by a sign. Many states adopted Western RTOR in the mid-1970's. The objectives of this study were to asess the impact of adopting Western RTOR on the frequency of pedestrian and bicycle crashes with motor vehicles, and to determine the characteristics of any pedestrian and bicycle RTOR accidents. Data from the states of New York, Ohio and Wisconsin and the cities of Los Angeles, California and New Orleans, Louisiana were examined. Time series was the major analytic technique for determining pre/post accident rate changes. Content analyses of police reports provided data on accident characteristics. Measures of pedestrian and bicycle accidents involving a motorist making a right turn at a signalized location increased significantly at all study sites after the adoption of Western RTOR. Estimates of the magnitude of the increases ranged from 48% to 107% for pedestrian accidents and 72% to 123% for bicyclist accidents. Over half of the accidents in which a vehicle turned right at a signalized location after the adoption of Western RTOR involved a right turn on a red signal. These RTOR accidents constituted between 1% and 3% of all pedestrian or bicycle accidents in the studied locations. The majority of these RTOR crashes involved a driver looking left for a gap in traffic and striking a pedestrian or bicyclist coming from the driver's right. Educational countermeasures for bicyclists and pedestrians and traffic engineering approaches, including the further development of warrants for sign prohibitions of RTOR, appear to be worthy of additional research. /Abstract from report summary page/129