Get ready: Seattle is phasing out right-on-red turns

Expect some honking as drivers get used to Seattle's new dictate phasing out the decades-old practice of allowing right-on-red turns at intersections.

Why it matters: Failure to yield to pedestrians is one of the leading causes of crashes in Seattle, according to the city's 2023 Vision Zero Top-to-Bottom Review.

• At traffic signals, incidents involving vehicle drivers turning account for 35% of all pedestrian-involved crashes citywide.
• Twenty-eight people are killed and 180 people seriously injured in traffic-related collisions from all causes on average each year, according to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

Driving the news: In an effort to lower pedestrian collisions, the city has adopted a new policy to expand no right-on-red restrictions, according to SDOT.

• A recent study published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers suggests that No Turn on Red signs can reduce pedestrian-vehicle conflicts by 92 percent and vehicle-vehicle conflicts by 97 percent during the red interval at signalized intersections.
• The city already had 100 intersections banning red-light turns and is nearing completion on installing signs at 41 additional intersections downtown.
• More signs will be rolled out in pedestrian-dense neighborhoods throughout the city over the next year.

What's next: In the future, red-light turn restrictions will be the default intersection setting.