Red arrow signal

How to read it

The MUTCD says traffic facing a steady red arrow does not enter the intersection to make the movement the arrow shows, stops at the stop line, crosswalk or edge of the intersection, and remains stopped until a signal or other device allowing that movement is shown. A turn on a red arrow is not allowed unless a sign is in place permitting it, and then only after stopping, in the arrow’s direction, under stop-sign rules. A flashing red arrow is a different light: a driver turning that way stops first and may then turn, as at a stop sign. Pennsylvania’s manual says red arrows are not common there but are used in other states. This page describes the national standard and isn’t legal advice; the rules at a signal are set by state law and vary from state to state.

Also searched as: red arrow, red arrow turn, red left arrow.

Can you turn right on a red arrow?

Not under the MUTCD, unless a sign at the intersection permits it; the 2009 and 2023 editions word the rule the same way. The state manuals disagree with each other. California’s handbook says not to turn at a red arrow and to remain stopped until a green light or green arrow appears, and Michigan’s says the same. Oregon’s manual says the same turns allowed on a steady red light are allowed on a red arrow, after a complete stop. Florida’s lists, under the red arrow, a right turn after stopping where no NO TURN ON RED sign is posted. Which rule applies is a matter of the law of the state where the intersection is.

Red arrow or red light

A steady red light stops every movement on its approach, but allows a right turn after stopping unless a NO TURN ON RED sign forbids it. A red arrow stops only the turn it points to, and the MUTCD gives it no turn on red of its own.