ORLANDO, Fla. – News 6 traffic safety expert Trooper Steve Montiero answers viewer questions about the rules of the road, helping Central Florida residents become better drivers by being better educated.
Trooper Steve on Tuesday was asked, “Can you clarify the meaning of red arrow traffic lights? I almost ran into someone who thinks it’s OK to turn left.”
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Trooper Steve said in the six-plus years he’s been at News 6 he’s been asked most about traffic lights.
“Where some of you get your information about what you can and can’t do is probably the reason why we’re seeing the crashes we are,” he said. “When encountering a left turn arrow, it is to be treated as a red light.”
The reason it’s an arrow is because it designates the direction you’re traveling, he added.
“Through-traffic in other directions may change or be different from your traffic light, hence the reason you must focus on your designated traffic light,” Trooper Steve said. “A driver shall not make a left turn on a red light or a red left arrow unless they are traveling on a one-way street and attempting to make a left onto another one-way street.”
That’s the only time a driver can make a left on red.
Drivers facing the opposite, a right turn arrow, can make a right on red after making a complete stop and as long as they have yielded the right of way to other traffic and there is no other signage indicating that a right turn is not permitted.
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