Is it ever legal to turn left at a red light? – Press Enterprise

Q: Don Miller of Riverside said he remembered reading a while ago about a new law on left-turn lanes with signal controls, saying if there was no traffic in the area and it was safe to do so, drivers could legally turn left a red light. Miller asked whether this was true and whether such a law actually existed.

A: In California, there is only one scenario in which it is legal to turn left at a red light, and that is when you are traveling on a one-way street and turn onto another one-way street. You must make sure that there is no traffic or pedestrians and that you are turning against a circular red light and not a left turn arrow. It is never permitted to turn left or right at an intersection at a red arrow signal.

Here is the section of the California Vehicle Code (21453)(b): “Except when a sign prohibiting turning is posted, a driver, after stopping in accordance with subsection (a), may turn to the right when faced with a continuous circular red signal turn.”, or turn left from a one-way street onto a one-way street. A driver making a turn must and shall continue to yield the right of way to pedestrians lawfully in an adjacent crosswalk and to any vehicle that has approached or is approaching so closely that it poses an imminent danger to the driver grant the right to maintain distance from that vehicle until the driver can continue driving with reasonable safety.”

Q: Earl Jones of Victorville expressed concern about vehicles without front license plates and said there is a lack of police enforcement of the law requiring it. Jones pointed out that having a front license plate helps law enforcement catch some criminals and solve crimes. Therefore, it is important that those who do not have a license plate are cited.

A: California Vehicle Code Section 5200 states that if the Department of Motor Vehicles issues two license plates, both plates – front and back – must be displayed on the vehicle (vehicles such as some commercial vehicles and motorcycles are only required to display one, so there are exceptions ). The front license plate gives police another way to find a car if, for example, the rear license plate is obscured by a tow truck or something else. Front license plates can also help enforce red light cameras and toll roads. While not having a front license plate is illegal, it is not the police’s top priority in everyday life.

“It’s one of those things that if there are more relevant things to pay attention to, that’s where the enforcement happens. But that’s certainly something to be proud of,” said Officer Dan Olivas of the California Highway Patrol Inland Division.