Driving is somewhat easy, right? Rule No. 1: follow the rules and Rule No. 2: don’t be a jerk. I thought I was doing all of that one day when I casually turned right on red. Sure, I saw the police officer, but we all turn right on red all the the time so I didn’t think twice.
Until he pulled me over. “Didn’t you see the sign?” he asked.
Uh, NO. I don’t generally break the law directly in front of police officers. (Or at all, really.)
The lovely officer let me go. Perhaps he thought my embarrassment at being pulled over on the corner of Glenwood and Peace Street was enough punishment. (It was. I’ll never do that again.)
You can avoid this embarrassment by checking out this list of places you cannot turn right on right in Raleigh. These are the 5 I found a bit surprising. Also, for those of you who forget Rule No. 2, check this list before honking at me, OK?
- Glenwood Avenue heading south, right onto Peace Street in downtown. Yep. That’s what got me. Now that I think about it, the turn is a bit awkward there …
Bonus: For the love of all Raleigh drivers, PLEASE do not attempt to turn left from Peace coming west up the hill onto Glenwood heading south. It’s illegal. And dangerous. - Whitaker Mill Road, eastbound, at Atlantic Avenue. This one bugs me because I see people do it all the time and it always ends with a driver nearly rear-ending the person who turned. The hill and curve at Atlantic Avenue are such that you really can’t see much coming around that corner. If you’re on Whitaker Mill, just hang tight.
- Northbound Boylan Avenue no right-on-red onto Peace Street. This was one submitted by a Twitter fan. Maybe he got pulled over? This is that intersection by the McDonald’s. Given the traffic there and the hard right angles, I’m grateful for this one.
- Garner Road and Tryon Road. This one was submitted by a listener. “It seems pretty wide open to me and I don’t even think these roads experience heavy traffic, in my experience. I’m surprised I haven’t gotten caught here!” she said.
- Boylan Avenue, northbound, at Morgan Street. There are a lot of troublesome spots on Boylan when it comes to visibility, but this one doesn’t seem as bad.
Some Special Cases
In some cases, you can’t turn right on red, but only during certain time periods. The city also has a list of school zones in which you cannot turn right on red. Please, look for the sign before you go.
No Left Turn on Red
No, you cannot turn left on red. No matter what.
Many drivers believe it’s OK to turn left on red if you’re turning from a one-way street onto another one-way street. The rules vary in all 50 states, but in North Carolina, it’s illegal no matter what. So don’t do it.
For Non-Drivers
An organization called America Walks would like to ban right turns on red becuase of the dangers posed to bicyclists and pedestrians. What do you think?
Your turn: We’ve got the full list below. Which ones caught you by surprise? Or at which ones do you find yourself annoyed because someone behind you is honking?
The Full List – No Turn on Red
- Athens Drive, westbound, at Jones Franklin Road between 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
- Avent Ferry Road and Western Boulevard, northbound.
- Boylan Avenue, northbound, at South Street.
- Boylan Avenue, northbound, at Peace Street.
- Boylan Avenue, southbound at Cabarrus Street, 7:30 – 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 – 4:00 p.m..
- Boylan Avenue, northbound, at Morgan Street.
- Brooks Avenue, southbound, at Wade Avenue.
- Brooks Avenue, northbound, at Hillsborough Street.
- Buck Jones Road, northbound, at Hillsborough Street/Western Boulevard.
- Buck Jones Road, northbound, at Western Boulevard/Jones Franklin Road.
- Cabarrus Street at Salisbury Street.
- Canterbury Road, southbound at Wade Avenue.
- Clark Avenue, eastbound, at Bellwood Drive.
- Dan Allen Drive at Hillsborough Street.
- Davie Street, eastbound, at Blount Street.
- Dixie Trail, southbound, at Wade Avenue.
- Edenton Street at McDowell Street, westbound.
- Executive Drive, westbound, at Wake Forest Road/St. Albans Drive.
- Fairview Road, eastbound, at St. Mary’s Street.
- Friendly Drive, northbound, at Hillsborough Street.
- Gardner Street, southbound, at Hillsborough Street.
- Garner Road, northbound, at East Street.
- Glascock Street, eastbound, at Wake Forest Road.
- Glenwood Avenue, northbound, at East Street.
- Glenwood Avenue, eastbound, at Oberlin Road.
- Glenwood Avenue, northbound and southbound, at Fairview Road.
- Glenwood Avenue, southbound at Peace Street.
- Hargett Street and McDowell Street, westbound.
- Hillsborough Street and Pullen Road, northbound.
- Hillsborough Street, eastbound, at Watauga Drive, southbound.
- Hillsborough Street, eastbound, at Salisbury Street.
- Hillsborough Street, westbound, at Chamberlain Street.
- Hillsborough Street, westbound, at Logan Court.
- Hunt Drive, northbound, at Western Boulevard.
- Method Road, southbound, at Western Boulevard.
- Morgan Street and Dawson Street, eastbound.
- Morgan Street and Salisbury Street, eastbound.
- New Hope Road, southbound at U.S. 401 Highway, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
- New Hope Road, northbound at U.S. 401 Highway, 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
- Oakwood Avenue, westbound, at Hill Street.
- Old Wake Forest Road, northbound, at Millbrook Road
- Peace Street, westbound, at Glenwood Avenue.
- Peyton Street southbound, at Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard.
- Poole Road at Sunnybrook Road.
- St. Mary’s Street, southbound, at Anderson Drive and Glenwood Avenue.
- Wake Forest Road, northbound, at Executive Drive and New Hope Church Road.
- Western Boulevard, eastbound, at Avent Ferry Road/Morrill Drive.
- Western Boulevard, eastbound, at Buck Jones and Jones Franklin Road.
- Whitaker Mill Road, eastbound, at Atlantic Avenue.
- Whitaker Mill Road, eastbound, at southbound Wake Forest Road.