Can you turn right on a red light?

A whole lot of people do. Is it legal? Thanks.

No.

It’s legal in China though :laughing:
If you’ve been to China, then you will realize why this is so funny and also why Taiwan doesn’t allow it.
Who knows? Perhaps I’ll yet be killed ny this allowance in China. :cry:

They allow it in some of the States, too. There was a really bad accident near my home today, which is why I asked. The guy didn’t even stop; he just turned right and got slammed hard. Not sure if he made it or not. I really wish they enforced the traffic laws more.

My wife wrote to whomever takes complaints and they wrote her back and told her to just report vehicles who break the law.

The point is - in places where it’s allowed - you’re supposed to stop and look left first. Looking where you’re going (or where other people are going) is a slippery concept for the average Taiwanese driver. Even in France, in those locations where priorité à droite applies, you’re expected to look to make sure someone on the major road isn’t going to be unable to stop for you.

There’s was another funny editorial in the China Post the other day. Apparently, tourists are put off driving in Taiwan because of the lack of English-language signposts :unamused:

chinapost.com.tw/editorial/t … mprove.htm

“When foreign tourists visit Western Europe, Australia or the United States, many rent a vehicle and explore. If these visitors read English, for the most part they can find their way around by simply following signs and reading maps. In Taiwan however — even in the capital city Taipei — road signs are not particularly clear. Signs are too small, difficult to understand, ill-placed and could generally benefit from some expert attention. Outside of northern Taiwan there are even fewer English signs and in some places streets don’t have signs at all.”

Long story short NO its not legal in Taiwan, and for very good reasons as you pointed out (by the way its bad form to say there was a really bad accident and then give no details??). Its legal here in Calif but you have to stop (behind the line) and wait at least five seconds before you can turn. Assuming you are using those five seconds to watch out for cars. And in many places where it is deemed impossible to safely watch for cars, it is NOT legal to make a right on red. And there will be a sign that points this out.

I think Right on Red should NOT be allowed because this leaves it up to the driver’s discretion and we know what that often means.

It’s the same in Washington State.

I can’t do a good job of explaining where exactly, but in Xindian, when you’re coming from Muzha, there’s a traffic light that you have to wait for before turning right and heading towards the Carrefour and downtown Xindian. The traffic light is pretty new. I would say about half of the people don’t bother stopping at the light. Yesterday, somebody on a scooter ran the light and got hit by a car. I don’t really know any more than that.

Thanks for the replies!

You mean half of them stop on red? I’d like to see that.

No, but I do it in my car all the time. why? because I am a total badass. TOTAL!

They can NEVER allow it in Taiwan because Taiwan drivers would perpetually do it without looking (the same way scooter fucks make hard rights without looking for oncoming traffic) and the drivers with the green light would be stuck. Then the lights would change and everyone would be stuck in the middle of the intersection.

It’d be a total shitshow, drivers in Taiwan are much too selfish to handle something like this…‘oh they aren’t selfish Deuce, you are just an ignorant Western prick!’ really? watch people here merge sometime. watch the guy behind you double his speed when he realizes you are changing into his lane, Taiwan drivers are the most selfish on the planet, and that’s real talk, homie!

So in a nutshell, no you can’t and you shouldn’t be able to turn right on a read, but if you are a TOTAL BADASS (and I mean total) like me, you do that shit sometimes.

This maneuver is only allowed in civilized milieus, that is why it is banned in some US states, have you seen some of the people there? my God, fat as a mountain and dumb as a stump, not quite read for the right turn just yet.

Right turn is only allowed if there is a green arrow. I can understand allowing right turn on red with the stop requirement but I cannot understand how you can give a green arrow to turn into traffic that has a green light. Neither traffic is yielding and it can be scary.

This is exactly what my wife wrote to the complaint department about. There are two places here in Xindian where this is especially dangerous. One is right in front of my house, the other is the big intersection near the RT Mart and the Bitan bridge.

Legal, illegal, green arrows, merging and so on.

Best to look really, our poor fellow on the scooter didn’t look.

So many people don’t look. So many people get hurt, makes me wonder why they don’t look!

What could be so wrong as to look? Would this imply that you would be at fault? “oh I didn’t see you, you hit me, your fault”. Perhaps?

Right-turn green arrows are perfect spots to watch a bit of road rage. Those lanes are right-turn only but there’s always some tard stopped there waiting to go straight ahead, blocking the lane for cars wanting to turn right. I kind of pity the people living nearby who have to listen to car horns 24 hours a day.

I do it all the time on the scooter. Not in the car though.

Sociocultural perk that I shall miss.

I’m told it’s bad luck. If you look, you will have an accident. Due to, like, ghosts and stuff.

I kid you not.

Although possibly that was just a Taiwanese person’s idea of having some fun with the gullible foreigner, it seems like as good an explanation as any.

[quote=“jdsmith”]I do it all the time on the scooter. Not in the car though.

Sociocultural perk that I shall miss.[/quote]

Same here, but that’s only because the red light cameras typically don’t pick up a scooter going right on a red, but it does pick up the car :smiley:

There is a large fine for turning right so be aware that being a bad ass has its price.

Yes you can if there is no police waiting for you around the corner and please check for pedestrians and oncoming traffic from left. I do it all the time as well, got used to it in Taichung. People in Keelung however don’t do it often, but hey I got used to it already… hard to wait 45 seconds just to turn right?

Btw. its like 1800 NT if they catch you…

[quote=“Steviebike”]Legal, illegal, green arrows, merging and so on.

Best to look really, our poor fellow on the scooter didn’t look.

So many people don’t look. So many people get hurt, makes me wonder why they don’t look!

What could be so wrong as to look? Would this imply that you would be at fault? “oh I didn’t see you, you hit me, your fault”. Perhaps?[/quote]

The problem is that pedestrians have a green and there are scooters pulling into the scooter box that can’t see the car going 30-50km/hr turning right. they don’t have much of a chance to look and for some unknown reason Taiwan gives them a green arrow that implies right of way.

Yes you can if there is no police waiting for you around the corner and please check for pedestrians and oncoming traffic from left. I do it all the time as well, got used to it in Taichung. People in Keelung (Jilong) however don’t do it often, but hey I got used to it already… hard to wait 45 seconds just to turn right?

Btw. its like 1800 NT if they catch you…[/quote]

Thats why most people pull up slowly and look right for the police. Usually the police are quite visible and only people who don’t look drive right into them.