Signs, signals and pavement markings
Outside New York City, you are stopped at a steady red light on a one-way road and want to turn left onto another one-way road. No sign or marking prohibits the turn. What may you do?
- Turn left after a full stop, yielding to oncoming traffic and pedestrians. Correct answer
- Wait for a green light, because a left turn on red is never allowed.
- Turn left without stopping, as long as no other vehicle is coming.
Why
A turn on a steady red light is not only a right-turn privilege. Outside New York City, the manual also allows a left turn on red in one specific case: when you are turning from a one-way road into another one-way road. The conditions are the same as for a right turn on red: first a full stop, then yield to oncoming traffic and to pedestrians. So the claim that a left on red is never allowed is wrong, and so is turning without stopping, because the full stop comes before anything else. The permission disappears if a NO TURN ON RED sign, another sign, a signal or a pavement marking prevents the turn, and inside New York City turning on red is off unless a sign permits it.
Where this comes from
New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21), April 2026 version. The correct answer is Turn left after a full stop, yielding to oncoming traffic and pedestrians.
More on signs, signals and pavement markings
- A school bus with students on board is stopped at a steady red light outside New York City. No NO TURN ON RED sign is posted. May the bus driver turn right on the red light?
- You are stopped in a lane controlled by a red arrow pointing right. You want to turn right. What must you do?
- You are about to turn left on a green arrow when the arrow changes to yellow. What does the yellow arrow tell you?
- On a highway with lane-use control lights above the pavement, a steady yellow X lights up over the lane you are driving in. What should you do?