Right turns on red became legal at a large scale across the country in the 1970s, despite the threats the practice represents to pedestrians and people on bikes.
Angie Schmitt lays out the case for ending the right turn on a red light that's legal at almost every intersection in just about every community across the United States—except new York City.
Letting drivers turn on red can save gas, but there is a trade-off. Though recent studies are lacking, the body of research shows that allowing rights on red compromises safety for people who walk and bike.
Most of the article is dedicated to laying out the body of evidence (with studies from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration) about the additional risk right turns on red lights bring to pedestrians and people on bikes.
Still, despite all this evidence, it's unlikely that traffic laws will be changing any time soon.
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