Right turn on red permitted only if road is clear
July 13, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SOME comments regarding the letter of Mr Bensuaski ("Shanghai a great city dominated by motorized beasts," July 5):
He is right in most aspects, especially regarding the useless traffic assistants and the lack of law enforcement.
To the best of my knowledge, it is permitted not only in China to turn right on a red light. I think that is a good thing because it improves the traffic flow.
(Somewhat tongue in cheek, I would add that it is even good for the ecology because it keeps vehicles moving which otherwise are stopped at the red light, wasting petrol and polluting the environment needlessly.)
As far as I know, turning right on red is only permitted if the road is clear and no other participants in the traffic are inconvenienced or their progress hindered. That clearly makes the issue one of law enforcement - for which the cops seem to consider themselves too busy, in this case anyway, and for which the traffic assistants are not empowered.
But instead of pontificating, Mr Bensuaski should look deeper into the fatalities. Having kept an eye on the respective reports in the Shanghai Daily for many years, I think this is what he would find:
The majority of the victims by far are lawless two-wheel-drivers who bring their own end about with complete disregard of anything or anybody around them.
The second largest group are, yes, pedestrians. Then there are those killed by drunk drivers who also figure prominently when it comes to crashes in which they sometimes get themselves killed and which often cause multiple fatalities in only one event. I reckon that these cases cover around three quarters of deaths on the road.
But I would bet that hardly any pedestrian met his or her end at an intersection while using the zebra crossing - J-walkers they are most of the time.
(A reader, Shanghai)
He is right in most aspects, especially regarding the useless traffic assistants and the lack of law enforcement.
To the best of my knowledge, it is permitted not only in China to turn right on a red light. I think that is a good thing because it improves the traffic flow.
(Somewhat tongue in cheek, I would add that it is even good for the ecology because it keeps vehicles moving which otherwise are stopped at the red light, wasting petrol and polluting the environment needlessly.)
As far as I know, turning right on red is only permitted if the road is clear and no other participants in the traffic are inconvenienced or their progress hindered. That clearly makes the issue one of law enforcement - for which the cops seem to consider themselves too busy, in this case anyway, and for which the traffic assistants are not empowered.
But instead of pontificating, Mr Bensuaski should look deeper into the fatalities. Having kept an eye on the respective reports in the Shanghai Daily for many years, I think this is what he would find:
The majority of the victims by far are lawless two-wheel-drivers who bring their own end about with complete disregard of anything or anybody around them.
The second largest group are, yes, pedestrians. Then there are those killed by drunk drivers who also figure prominently when it comes to crashes in which they sometimes get themselves killed and which often cause multiple fatalities in only one event. I reckon that these cases cover around three quarters of deaths on the road.
But I would bet that hardly any pedestrian met his or her end at an intersection while using the zebra crossing - J-walkers they are most of the time.
(A reader, Shanghai)
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