PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland drivers could be restricted from turning right at red lights in certain areas of the city.
Under an ordinance introduced to the Portland City Council’s Public Works Committee on Tuesday, transportation leaders would weigh implementing a no-right-on-red policy in the city’s High Crash Network. This network — which includes intersections like Northeast Halsey Street and 122nd Avenue and Southwest Arthur Street and Ross Island Way — makes up about 62% of local traffic deaths, according to the proposal.
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“For years, Oregon law has allowed drivers to turn on red after stopping provided a sign didn’t explicitly forbid it — but on our busiest , most complex streets, these outdated rules have exacted a deadly toll on our most vulnerable road users: our neighbors who are walking biking or using wheelchairs,” Councilor Loretta Smith, a co-sponsor of the policy alongside Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane, said.
Smith added that drivers “inherently” miss pedestrians and cyclists crossing from their right as they yield to traffic coming from their left…