Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System
Example of RTOR restriction during certain times. Source: Flickr - William Yurasko (2008)
A permissible Right Turn on Red (RTOR) was introduced in the 1970s as a fuel-saving measure and has sometimes had detrimental effects on pedestrians. While the law requires motorists to come to a full stop and yield to cross-street traffic and pedestrians prior to turning right on red, many motorists do not fully comply with the regulations, especially at intersections with wide turning radii. Motorists are so intent on looking for traffic approaching on their left that they may not be alert to pedestrians approaching on their right. In addition, motorists usually pull up into the crosswalk to wait for a gap in traffic, blocking pedestrian crossing movements. In some instances, motorists simply do not come to a full stop.
One concern that comes up when RTOR is prohibited is that this may lead to higher right-turn-on-green conflicts when there are concurrent signals. The use of the leading pedestrian interval (LPI) can usually best address this issue (see Pedestrian Signal Phasing). Where pedestrian volumes are very high, exclusive pedestrian signals should be considered.