Red Arrow, No-Turn Sign, and a Directing Officer
At 7:42 a.m. you are southbound on a four-lane arterial in Raleigh, in the right-turn lane for a major intersection. The signal for your lane shows a steady red right arrow, and a 'NO TURN ON RED' sign is mounted on the mast arm. A marked crosswalk runs across your turn path; two pedestrians are waiting on the right corner, one with a stroller. A police officer in a high-visibility vest stands about 15 feet into the intersection, facing you. The officer makes a repeated sweeping motion with the right arm, clearly directing you to turn right. Your light is still red. The vehicle behind you taps the horn. There is a bike lane on the road you are turning onto, and a cyclist is 40 feet away and closing. The intersection has a raised median 20 feet wide.
1. What is your immediate legal obligation: obey the red arrow and no-turn sign, or obey the officer? Explain how you proceed step by step.
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An officer's hand signal is a traffic control that overrides the signal head and the 'NO TURN ON RED' sign. The sign is not a suggestion, but it is lower in the control hierarchy than a police officer directing traffic. Practically: (1) stop at the stop bar or crosswalk edge if you have not already; (2) confirm the officer is directing you, not the cross street - the repeated sweep toward your right-turn path is the cue; (3) do not move while either pedestrian is in your path; the officer's direction does not erase your duty to avoid a collision; (4) check the bike lane and wait for the cyclist if your turn would cut across it; (5) complete the turn only when the path is clear. The horn behind you is irrelevant. If the officer's signal is ambiguous, stay stopped and wait; a guess is worse than a delay.
2. Suppose the officer steps back and stops directing, but the red arrow and NO TURN sign remain. You have a 20-foot median and a cyclist 40 feet away. Can you turn right on red after stopping? Why or why not?
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No. A steady red arrow is not the same as a steady circular red. A right turn on red is permitted only after a full stop from a circular red, and only where not prohibited. Here the red arrow itself prohibits the turn; the 'NO TURN ON RED' sign reinforces that prohibition. The 20-foot median and the 40-foot cyclist distance do not create an exception. Once the officer stops directing and the red arrow remains, you must wait for a green arrow or a lawful direction from an officer. The only nuance is if the signal is later changed to a circular red and the sign is removed; then the analysis changes.
3. What if the signal were a steady circular red with no NO TURN sign and no officer? Describe the stop-and-yield sequence, including the bike lane and pedestrians.
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With a circular red and no no-turn sign: stop at the stop bar, or before the crosswalk if the bar is missing. Then yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to anyone who steps into it. Edge forward enough to see, but do not block the crosswalk. Check the bike lane: a cyclist 40 feet away at, say, 15 mph arrives in under two seconds, so a right turn across the bike lane would be a conflict. Yield. The raised median does not allow a rolling stop; you still need a full stop before the crosswalk. Turn only when both the crosswalk and bike lane are clear.