Turning right at a red light is a favorite move by motorists seeking to save time as they maneuver through Atlanta’s notorious traffic. Soon, though, doing so may be illegal in certain parts of the city.
Atlanta City Councilmember Jason Dozier introduced legislation at the council’s Jan. 8 meeting that would ban right turns at red lights in Downtown, Midtown, and Castleberry Hill.
The policy is needed to address the rising number of pedestrians being hit by vehicles, Dozier told Rough Draft.
“In the year 2024 … we are at a 40-year high when it comes to pedestrian fatalities and injuries when it comes to collisions with cars,” he said.
There were 38 pedestrian deaths in Atlanta in 2022, an increase of 23% over 2021, according to a recent report by Propel ATL. Since 2020, pedestrian deaths have increased 52%, the report said.
“Downtown Atlanta, Midtown, and Castleberry Hill have the highest density of pedestrian activity in the city … and we want to make sure that pedestrians, whether they work or live or play — if they are in town for a Atlanta United match or with the World Cup coming — that they will feel safe and secure,” Dozier said.
Motorists are supposed to come to a complete stop at a red light before turning right. But too often, drivers encroach into crosswalks and don’t look to see if there are pedestrians crossing the street.
“And in situations like that you have a lot more friction when it comes to cars and people and we’re just trying to remove that friction,” he said.
Reckless driving plus much larger vehicles where drivers sitting high up are not able to see people crossing a road are some of the reasons pedestrian fatalities are increasing, Dozier said.
“Just in the last 15 years, over 3000 Atlantans have been hurt or have been killed due to traffic violence,” he said.
The reason right turns on red are legal now dates back to the oil crisis in 1970s when the federal government required localities and states to allow for right turns at red lights because there was a fear that idling at stop lights was wasting fuel, Dozier said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration has a page that recommends banning right turn on red to protect pedestrians.
New York City has banned right turns at red lights for years. A surge in accidents killing or injuring pedestrians and bicyclists in the U.S. has resulted in many cities and municipalities such as Washington, D.C. and Raleigh, N.C., to implement no right on red policies.
“This legislation I’ve proposed is saying, ‘Hey, let’s go back to when the norm was centered around people, centered around families, and centered around livelihood and safety,” he said.
Dozier also noted that Atlanta’s population is roughly just under 50% Black, but 35% of the pedestrian fatalities in the city are Black people.
“To me it’s a racial equity issue,” he said.
“Most of the people in in my district [District 4] don’t own a car or don’t have access to a car,” he said. “We need to do what we can to make our streets safer for our most vulnerable residents.”
The legislation is slated to be discussed at the Jan. 17 transportation committee.