Left on red?

In Ontario (a province in Canada), we can turn right on a red light. We can also turn left on a red light, if we are on a one way street turning into a one way street.

But I wonder about doing a U-turn on a red light? I do it (when safe to do so), but I worry that I might be breaking some traffic regulation. My reasoning is that I am turning left from a single lane into an adjoining single lane and not crossing oncoming traffic (if you ignore the fact that my turn is wide and ends up in the right hand lane).

You can turn left on red in Quebec (another province in Canada) too, except in Montreal (a city in the province of Quebec).

Image nabbed from here.

Comments

Coffee Fairy v1 said…
i think that one can do a u-turn as long as there's no sign that says "no u-turn".
Barbara said…
It's tempting, but my guess is that it's illegal.
I don't think I've ever turned left on a red. I remember driving with an American in Canada and I couldn't figure out why he was waiting to turn right on the red! Wonder why they can't?
buzybee said…
In Singapore, we can turn left on red if we see a sign saying "Turn on Red" at the traffic junction. Other than that, we are to stop on red all the time. Not many such sign around except in areas with less congestion.
Anonymous said…
If it was in Norway, it would have been illegal I think.

Btw: I wish you a great summer and welcome you over to my new blog home:-)
tin-tin said…
i agree with coffee fairy, maybe if there's sign that says no u-turn sign, you can do u-turn. and i think it's more dangerous to turn right or left if its red light especially if there ar approaching cars :)
Richard said…
coffee-fairy: the no U-turn sign is definitely important.

barbara: maybe, maybe not. My argument for it being illegal would be that you need to cross two lanes to execute it.

MOI: it likely depends from which state he was from. Quebec only recently got right turn on left (except the Island of Montreal).

busybee: you have congestion in Singapore? You are 1.43x more densely populated than Montreal, so I can imagine.

rennyba: thanks for letting me know about your new place.

tin-tin: the rationale for allowing turns on red is to keep traffic moving. Here, in Canada, traffic tends to be pretty rigid. If there is a car in the middle of the intersection, traffic basically stops as people wait for it to clear. In many other countries (like Peru), people just drive around it - the traffic moves slower than in Canada, but it is always moving.

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