America Tending to the Right

With the mid-terms quickly approaching, I hope this doesn't happen.  DC will be watching closely.

One thing that I have always liked about America, and I have driven a bit over there (although not in a long time) is the rule they have in most States whereby you can turn right through a red traffic light (assuming it is safe to do so)

There are still rules to follow of course - here's a little Driver Ed for you.

And here is another Driver Ed:

But I digress.

Back to the traffic light rule.

According to Car+Driver, Washington (and the rest of D.C.) are looking to remove the turn right on red rule.  The story is here.  Apparently fatalities are on the up with pedestrians not looking around the corners as they cross and, more importantly, drivers not checking for pedestrians or cyclists as they go through the red lights.

This will become even more of a problem as quieter electric vehicles become more prevalent. 

Now throw in something I had not heard of before called The Idaho Stop and much chaos and death will ensue.  The Idaho Stop (although not fully implemented in D.C.) basically allows cyclists to do what they think they can do here in the UK and proceed carte blanche through stop signs and red lights.

Car+Driver added one of their little 50/50 votes at the end of story and, since we petrol-heads all think we are such skilled drivers, I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome with as many as 31% agreeing with tighter rules:

I just hope there are some pleasant surprises for Joe in the vote next month.