Right Turn on Red With a Following Motorcycle
You are stopped at a red light in the right lane of a four-lane arterial, intending to turn right. A raised median separates your direction from oncoming traffic, and a marked crosswalk spans the street you want to enter. A pedestrian is standing on the corner but has not stepped off the curb. Your mirror shows a car close behind you and, behind that car, another motorcyclist. The light has been red for about 40 seconds. You have a clear view of cross traffic for roughly 300 feet in each direction. A sign on the pole reads 'No Turn on Red' - but it is mounted at an angle and partially obscured by a tree branch. You are not certain whether it applies to your lane or the lane beside you.
1. Walk through the legal and practical analysis of whether to turn right on red here.
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Start with the legal baseline: in California a right turn on red is permitted after a full stop unless a sign prohibits it, and the turn must yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to traffic lawfully using the intersection. The sign is the crux. If it is a valid 'No Turn on Red' sign applicable to your lane, turning is a violation regardless of traffic conditions. Because it is angled and partly hidden, you cannot assume it does not apply. The conservative and legally safe reading is to treat an ambiguous regulatory sign as prohibiting the turn until you can confirm otherwise - a citation for disobeying a posted sign is not defeated by 'it was hard to see.' Practical factors: the pedestrian at the curb has not entered the crosswalk, so you are not yet obligated to yield to an active crossing, but a person at the curb is a strong predictor of stepping off; 300 feet of visibility is adequate but not generous at arterial speeds. The car close behind creates pressure to go, and pressure is not a legal justification. The defensible answer is to wait for the green, or to confirm the sign's applicability before turning.
2. Assume the sign is confirmed to apply only to the adjacent lane and you may legally turn. Describe the sequence you would execute, including how you handle the pedestrian and the trailing vehicles.
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Sequence: complete a full stop behind the limit line, then re-check the sign, the pedestrian, cross traffic, and your mirrors in that order. Because a person is at the curb, treat the crosswalk as occupied in spirit - do not roll into it. Make the turn only when you can complete it without the pedestrian having to alter stride, and yield to any cross traffic within a safe gap. Signal early and continuously. On the motorcycle, position toward the left of your lane before the turn to widen your view and to be visible, then execute a slow, tight turn with the bike upright or only slightly leaned; a right turn from a stop at low speed is where riders drop bikes, so keep speed constant and avoid braking mid-turn. Trailing vehicles: the car behind may anticipate your turn and begin rolling; a brake-light tap before you commit signals your stop is real. Do not wave the car around you into the intersection. After the turn, accelerate smoothly and check that the following motorcyclist has room.
3. What does the presence of the following motorcyclist change about your decisions, if anything?
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It changes risk management, not the legal analysis. A motorcyclist behind a car behind you is two vehicles back and may be positioned to see around the car; that rider may anticipate a turn you have not decided to make. If you hesitate at the line and then stop again, the chain behind you must react, and a motorcyclist has less crash protection if the car behind brakes hard. Two practical adjustments: make your intentions unambiguous with an early, steady signal and predictable stopping, and avoid sudden decisions at the line. If you decide not to turn, hold your position clearly rather than creeping forward and back, which invites the car behind to close up and squeeze the rider behind it. You are not responsible for the other rider's following distance, but you are responsible for being predictable, and predictability is the main thing a trailing rider needs from you.