Motorists driving in the Castleberry Hill, Downtown and Midtown neighborhoods will soon be banned from turning right at red lights. The new law will protect pedestrians as they move around the busiest areas of Atlanta, say city leaders.
The Atlanta City Council voted 10-3 to approve legislation banning right on red at its Feb. 19 meeting. Voting no were Councilmembers Alex Wan, Antonio Lewis and Howard Shook.
The Atlanta Department of Transportation will be responsible for putting up “no turn on red” signage at nearly 300 intersections by Dec. 31, 2025, when the ordinance will go into effect. After the signs are up, motorists caught by law enforcement violating no turn on red could face a $70 fine.
Many of the intersections impacted are near notable sites such as Piedmont Park, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the nexus of Downtown hotels. Atlanta United matches, SEC football championships, DragonCon and Atlanta Pride are high-profile events that bring large crowds of pedestrians to the center of the city.
“The intent behind this legislation is to ensure that our city is doing everything in its power to make pedestrians as safe as possible,” said Councilmember Jason Dozier, who introduced the legislation last month.
Dozier noted there were 38 pedestrian deaths in Atlanta in 2022, an increase of 23% over 2021, according to a recent report by Propel ATL. Since 2020, pedestrian deaths have increased 52%, the report said.
He acknowledged that most studies on pedestrian fatalities and injuries don’t look at red light conditions, so there is not much data on the effectiveness of no turn on red policies.
But ATLDOT recently conducted a study of 65 crash reports involving serious injuries or fatalities between 2013 and 2022, Dozier said. Of that sample, more than 40% (or 27) of the crashes were found to be the result of motorists turning right at red lights, he said.
When applying that 40% citywide, the result is more than…
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