Thread: Turning left at Red Lights

Been able to do it in Darwin since I have had my license - more than 30 yrs . Not at every set of lights , only the ones that are sign posted that you can.

Great idea and as safe as any other road rule that people abide by.

Cheers Ean

Brisbane has had it for over a year. Supposed to stop; most people roll through. Doing it at first feels strange as going through a red light; still get people who will sit at lights til green. Speeds up traffic a lot though.

Good grief! Perth motorists have trouble understanding the necessity for stopping at red lights even and now they're going to confuse them even more with this experiment. They have trouble doing the simplest of things so this is just another bit of sheer lunacy by those that think they know best.
Maybe they should try being a pro driver for a while instead of seat polishing and they'd see the real problems on the roads.
AlanH.

As a cyclist I think I'll avoid those intersections. It's bad enough when they have a give way sign and they pull out in front of you.

Agree with ATH most Perth drivers run red lights at the best of times. They all seem to think the amber light on when you are 150 metres away means go faster. The amount of near misses I have had over the last 3 months with people running red when we are on green is ridiculous.
However I do get the principal. It can be just silly sitting at a red light at midnight or 4-30am waiting to turn with no other traffic visible.

There is a single intersection in Adelaide that has had a sign to that effect for well over 20 years. Time poor people want more intersections likewise sign posted, accident aware people want none like that. Personally I'd like to see better timing of turn arrows in low traffic times and more slip lane construction, but that's probably a pipe dream. In any case, intersections like that need good monitoring so that any drivers who fail to stop first get hammered with a decent fine. A big sign saying a camera is watching your turn might help too.

I could write a book on intersections. People just don't get it. I'm told Toowoomba has Australia's worst drivers and as I haven't experienced any worse , I have to agree. Any change to the rules there could spell disaster.
You'd imagine that lights were put in the most dangerous intersections first so safe is a dubious concept to apply at the best of times.
Having said that there are a few signed intersections in Sydney where the system works well and I don't think Sydney drivers are really all that flash. There is a large minority who seam to be brain dead.

It's not so much the stupidity as the care factor of drivers. At the bottom of our local freeway the 60 sign is ignored by 80% of drivers. Put a prominent bubble car in clear view of the yobs then compliance with the speed sign approaches 99%. Most people simply can't be bothered to concentrate on safe driving.