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City Hall175 East 200 NorthSt. George, UT 84770(435) 627-4000
| March 21, 2010 |
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Red Arrows and Right Turns do a 180 Just when the wrinkles are all ironed out, when all the bases are covered, they change the rules. At least that's the way it seems to go. Let me explain: Several weeks ago, Cheryl Orr from the answer line at the Spectrum called me regarding a question: "Can you turn right on a red arrow?" I was ready to give her the answer that I had on the top of my head. I had researched this topic with a highway patrol officer several years prior. We sat down and went through the motor vehicle code line by line and found the answer to this question. But I went to the code book again to make sure that I had correct information before I gave her an answer that was going out to the public. Sure enough, it was the same information that I thought it was and I told her my answer: "Yes, it is legal to turn right on any steady red signal" and I quoted from the code book. I got a message from a UDOT employee who informed me that I had given out incorrect information and I called him back, we went through the code book line by line and we got on the same page. We spoke about the danger at Exit 10 and the fact that there was no sign prohibiting the right turn, so it was legal (not smart, not safe, but legal). They have since put up a sign at Exit 10 prohibiting the right turns in an effort to make it safer for the motorists. A month went by and I got more calls. I gave out the same message and I even made it a point to e-mail all the officers at the police department to make sure we were all giving out the same information. This week I checked my messages. I had 2 from Sgt. Bruce Graham, one of which informed me "Craig, When we just get everyone on the same page with the red arrow thing, they change the law! It has been the same since 1993 but it changed this last legislative session." He did a copy and paste, and indeed, they have changed the law. This took effect May 3, 2004. The new books aren't even available yet. The law remains the same, but it has a few clarifications and insertions. They have inserted the underlined wording in the code: "Except when facing a red arrow signal, or when a sign is in place prohibiting a turn, the operator of a vehicle facing any steady circular red signal may cautiously enter the intersection to turn right..." Etc, etc. The rest of the code is the same. A vehicle CAN turn right at any steady red circular signal after stopping and if it's safe to do so. If it's a red arrow, you cannot turn right until the arrow turns green. So, I have since e-mailed all the officers Sgt. Graham's message and now I am putting it out to the public: IT IS NOT LEGAL TO TURN RIGHT ON A RED ARROW. I have had several other questions posed to me:
Drivers who know the rules will expect a certain movement and when the other drivers (who don't know the rules, or don't care) don't behave in the expected fashion, crashes can happen. We need to drive defensively to avoid those that drive in unexpected or even illegal fashion. It's important that we are all on the same page, and even in the same book. If you don't know the rules, call us. That's what we are here for. Craig Harding Public Information Officer St. George Police Department |
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