View full sizeJohn Horton, The Plain DealerSee those red arrows? They mean stop.
Q: I’ve read that if a green arrow is shown with a red light, you can go in the direction of the arrow if the way is clear. I haven’t come across this red-light-and-green-arrow situation yet while driving, and I’m unsure if you’re supposed to stop before turning in the direction of the green arrow, or if you can just go through.
The new stop lights in the left-turn lanes where Interstate 480 spills onto Granger Road look strange. The traditional red circle? Gone. In its place glows a red left-turn arrow. 'It's a change and it's weird,' Brooklyn Heights Patrolman Gary Bru said.
And, at the moment, he and others fear it might even be dangerous as confused drivers go through the red arrows when they should remain stopped.
A federal rule change mandated the signal makeover at intersections with left-turn lanes, and the Ohio Department of Transportation has begun making the update at hundreds of locations. The list includes 33 spots around Northeast Ohio, including six in Cuyahoga County. The state targeted nine sites in Medina County and eight in Lorain County.
ODOT officials said they are unaware of any crashes linked to the new setup. Others, however, tell tales of close calls. Bru said one bewildered driver at I-480 and Granger nearly hit a Brooklyn Heights officer after going through the red arrow and pulling into the path of the oncoming police car.
'We've been lucky so far,' Bru said.
The change stems from a 2009 rewrite of the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, an 816-page volume that standardizes roadway signs, signals and pavement markings coast to coast. It requires state and local governments to switch from the tried and true circular red lights to red arrows in left-turn-only signals.
With the revision, those signals will transition from a green arrow to a yellow arrow to a red arrow.
That last step is where the confusion starts. It appears that some motorists see the red arrow and interpret it as an invitation to turn immediately after they make a stop. Essentially, they treat the red arrow as a stop sign and conclude they don't have to wait.
Paul Niedetzki said it startled him the first time he saw a driver stop and then hit the gas to go though a red arrow at Fenn Road and Ohio 42 in Medina Township. The 68-year-old, who lives in neighboring Brunswick Hills Township, said he's watched at least a handful of people make the mistake at the spot in the past few weeks.
'They see the arrow and they think it's OK to turn, even though it's a red light,' Niedetzki said. 'Somebody's going to get killed.'
ODOT realized the potential for problems until Ohio drivers acclimate to the new setup, spokesman Steve Faulkner said. A news release announcing the modification earlier this year contained one line bolded for emphasis: 'Drivers CANNOT turn on red arrows.'
'We completely understand the confusion it may cause,' ODOT spokesman Steve Faulkner said. 'That's always an issue with change.'
Debate about the use of the red left-turn arrows dates back decades, according to online information posted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The agency actually proposed eliminating the red arrows in the late 1990s. The reason? Earlier research indicated that the red turn arrows caused problems for older drivers.
Those studies, however, took place in the 1980s soon after red arrows first appeared in left-turn signals. Officials later concluded that drivers adjusted to the arrows as they became more familiar with them. Most states now use the arrows instead of the red circle, reports the FHWA.
The change, by the way, isn't being done for cosmetic reasons. There IS a safety benefit. Officials said using a solid red circle in a left-turn traffic signal can sometimes confuses drivers in adjacent straightaway lanes. The red arrow helps reinforce that the stop instruction is only for traffic in the designated turn lane.
So the new look should be an improvement . . . once we get used to it, of course.