{"id":2597519,"date":"2026-05-01T07:05:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-push-to-lift-dcs-right-turn-on-red-ban\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T07:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:08:00","slug":"house-republicans-push-to-lift-dcs-right-turn-on-red-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-push-to-lift-dcs-right-turn-on-red-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"House Republicans push to lift DC\u2019s &#8216;right turn on red&#8217; ban"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-republicans-push-to-lift-dcs-right-turn-on-red-ban%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2597519&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Republican lawmakers are pushing to unwind Washington, D.C.\u2019s policies that restrict driving behavior-specifically, a proposed federal ban on allowing right turns on red (and restrictions tied to traffic enforcement cameras). the bill, advanced by the House Oversight Committee under Rep. Scott Perry,would bar D.C. from using traffic cameras for enforcement and from prohibiting right-on-red turns, a change that could also reduce a major source of revenue for the city from automated tickets.<\/p>\n<p>D.C.officials and Democrats express concern as the district\u2019s \u201chome rule\u201d status leaves its laws vulnerable when Congress is controlled by Republicans. The conflict over right turns on red is not new: decades ago, Democrats resisted a national mandate that allowed the practice, using economic pressure from Congress and energy-funding leverage to force D.C. to comply. Then, the case for right-on-red was framed as cutting idling and saving energy; today, it\u2019s largely debated as a safety issue, especially for pedestrians and cyclists.<\/p>\n<p>The article argues that while the politics have flipped-what was once a progressive environmental-era policy has become a conservative target-D.C. is again facing the same structural challenge: congress can override local autonomy, turning a local traffic rule into a recurring national culture-and-governance fight.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>In the long-running battle between <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congressional-republicans\/\">congressional Republicans<\/a> and the local government of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/washington-dc\/\">Washington, D.C.<\/a>, GOP lawmakers have found a new target: the city\u2019s ban on making a right turn when there\u2019s a red light.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4550740\/johnson-caps-chaotic-house-week-wins-gop-infighting\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Johnson caps chaotic House week with several wins despite GOP infighting<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4549989\/house-gop-investigation-airbnb-china-ai-model\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>House GOP launches investigation into Airbnb over use of Chinese AI models<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4548895\/house-passes-funding-bill-reopen-dhs\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>House passes funding bill to reopen DHS minus border enforcement<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>The attempt to force the nation\u2019s capital to allow such turns mirrors a traffic policy dispute that erupted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-bestows-medal-of-honor-on-korean-war-vet-skorean-president-on-hand\/\" title=\"Biden Bestows Medal of Honor on Korean War Vet; SKorean President on Hand\">half-century ago<\/a>. Except back then, it was the Democrats who forced the city\u2019s hand. <\/p>\n<p>In March, the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dcnewsnow.com\/news\/local-news\/washington-dc\/house-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-dc-traffic-cameras-restrictions-on-right-turns\/?utm_source=newsletter&#038;utm_medium=email&#038;utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_dc&#038;stream=top\">House Oversight Committee approved the \u201cStop DC CAMERA Act,\u201d<\/a> a bill by Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), which would ban the city from using traffic enforcement cameras and from prohibiting right turns on red. Perry has said his goal is \u201cto bring driving autonomy back to the District.\u201d The bill was approved on a 21-19 <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcwashington.com\/news\/local\/transportation\/house-committee-bill-ban-dc-traffic-cams\/4078177\/\">party-line vote<\/a>, and if it passes Congress, the legislation could stop a big money-maker for the city in automated tickets, which range from $100 to $500.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The GOP proposal is drawing concern from elected officials in D.C., a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wealthy-democrats-aided-and-abetted-the-biden-border-crisis-now-theyre-whining-about-it\/\" title=\"Wealthy Democrats contributed to the Biden border crisis and now complain about it.\">deep-blue enclave<\/a> of nearly 700,000 people that, due to its unique \u201chome rule\u201d status, constantly faces the threat of Congress overruling its actions. That\u2019s always a live possibility when, as is currently the case, Republicans hold the White House and have House and Senate majorities.<\/p>\n<p>Political friction is hardly surprising, as all Democratic presidential candidates have won overwhelmingly in Washington since the federal district got a vote in national elections through ratification of the 23rd Amendment in 1961. For several years in the late 1990s and into the early 21st century, congressional Republicans sought to use D.C. as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/of-course-gen-z-is-moving-to-the-right\/\" title=\"Of Course Gen Z Is Moving To The Right\">policy petri dish<\/a> of sorts \u2014 among other things, ban needle exchange programs, gun control efforts, and D.C.-enacted laws to ease marijuana restrictions. Then-President Bill Clinton\u2019s veto pen spared some D.C. laws, while congressional GOP lawmakers at times succeeded at blocking others.<\/p>\n<p>As for the current right-on-red proposal, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/mayor.dc.gov\/release\/mayor-bowser-urges-congress-reject-proposal-would-make-dc-streets-less-safe\">said<\/a> in a March 17 statement that the GOP bill, which also targets the use of city cameras that clamp down on moving violations, would send a \u201cdangerous message that reckless driving is acceptable in our nation\u2019s capital.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Under a 2022 D.C. law called the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/code.dccouncil.gov\/us\/dc\/council\/laws\/24-214\">Safer Streets Amendment Act<\/a>, right turns on red lights are banned at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2026\/01\/07\/speed-cameras-dc-ban\/\">most intersections in the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Before that, the city began allowing right turns on red at some intersections in 1979, but only under intense financial pressure from a Democratic-controlled Congress. At the time, Democrats were championing right turns on red as a way to save energy by reducing the amount of time that cars spent idling. In a twist, Democratic cities today are pushing bans on these turns to protect pedestrians and bicyclists from getting hit by cars.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-different-party-in-charge-similar-fight\">Different party in charge, similar fight<\/h2>\n<p>Right turns on red in D.C. have been a source of tension since the days that Democrats dominated Congress. House Democrats held an uninterrupted majority from 1955 to 1995. Democrats controlled the Senate for 34 of those 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>Washington, D.C., became one of the last places in the United States to allow the turns, following a 1975 congressional mandate.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Dale Bumpers, an Arkansas Democrat who advocated allowing the practice to help the country save gasoline, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/local\/1978\/11\/11\/right-turn-on-red\/d9bca1d5-3aa4-4327-aba0-a774937cd155\/\">expressed annoyance<\/a> at having to wait to turn on red lights as he made his way from his home in Bethesda, Maryland, to the Capitol. He got Congress to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >withhold federal energy funds<\/a> from the city unless D.C. got on board.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1979\/12\/09\/archives\/washington-complies-prohibits-right-turns-at-80-of-red-lights-us.html\">December 1979 story<\/a>, <em>The New York Times<\/em> reported that D.C., \u201cwhich is full of traffic circles and intersections with acute angles and some of the most jumbled traffic jams in the nation,\u201d had just spent $250,000 [about $1.1 million today] to put up \u201cNo Turn on Red\u201d signs at 3,100 traffic lights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of placing the signs, the city could have simply held on to its resistance to the national right-turn\u2010on\u2010red policy that became law when Gerald R. Ford was President,\u201d the paper added, referring to the 1975 congressional mandate. \u201cThe provision was included in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act largely at the insistence of Senator Dale Bumpers, a Democrat from Charleston, Ark., a town of 1,500 persons that has no traffic lights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The story referenced studies of West Coast cities that found a minimum or \u201cacceptable\u201d increase in pedestrian injuries and vehicle collisions, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Such injuries are a big factor in today\u2019s push to ban rights on red. According to the <em>New York Times<\/em>, D.C. faced a loss of nearly a half-million dollars \u2013 about $2.15 million in today\u2019s money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe city capitulated. But grudgingly,\u201d the story noted.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, there was a national debate about allowing these turns. California had been the first to allow it, back in 1947, leading to one of the more memorable lines in Woody Allen\u2019s 1977 classic movie \u201cAnnie Hall,\u201d when his <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=64Iod_BMKUk\">character griped<\/a> during a visit to Los Angeles, \u201cI don\u2019t want to live in a city where the only cultural advantage is that you can make a right turn on a red light.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In the 1970s, traffic specialists used the acronym \u201cRTOR\u201d to describe the practice of making a right turn on red, but opponents of the RTOR provision of the 1975 energy law had a different one: GLFM, for \u201cGreen Light for Mayhem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Highway Administration hired an engineering firm to study the practice, and in its final report, the firm raised the same kind of safety concerns that the D.C. Council has today, noting that if the turn is made \u201cimproperly, i.e., without stopping and yielding, collisions with other vehicles or pedestrians could occur.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By 1977, when New York and New Jersey allowed the turns, it was already in place or about to be in 44 states. But Woody Allen didn\u2019t have to worry about it invading his hometown, New York City, from the trend sweeping the nation.<\/p>\n<p>As the <em>New York Times<\/em> reported in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1976\/12\/26\/archives\/new-jersey-weekly-turn-on-red-but-be-careful.html\">December 1976 story<\/a>, \u201cThere are so many congested intersections and crosswalks in the city that the right turn on red there will be permitted only if a sign says it can be done. At this stage, it appears that the vast majority of intersections in Manhattan and other busy areas will continue to prohibit RTOR.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, what was once a cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre on the left for environmental reasons has been ditched as a liberal cause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn blue cities across the country, local road policy in the past decade has been tweaked in the name of making things safer and more enticing for non-drivers \u2014 often by making things slower and more annoying for motorists,\u201d observed Michael Schaffer in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2024\/08\/16\/culture-war-traffic-lights-republicans-00174179\">2024 POLITICO Magazine column<\/a>. \u201cSpeed limits have been lowered. Traffic enforcement has been boosted. Car lanes have been turned over to bikes. And liberal bastions like Seattle and Ann Arbor have embraced a policy that once existed only in New York: banning right turns on red, which can lead to deadly collisions with pedestrians and cyclists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a polarized country,\u201d he added, \u201cit was inevitable that this would become more than just a disagreement over traffic circulation and moving violations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The progressive magazine <em>Mother Jones<\/em> called for an end to right turns on red in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/environment\/2022\/10\/right-turn-on-red-ban-washington-dc-gas-crisis\/\">2022 story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/4537621\/maryland-expected-ban-surveillance-pricing-consumers\/\"><strong>MARYLAND IS EXPECTED TO BAN SURVEILLANCE PRICING. HERE\u2019S WHAT THAT MEANS FOR CONSUMERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an obsolete\u00a0relic of the 1970s oil crisis. It\u2019s dangerous to pedestrians,\u201d wrote Abigail Weinberg. \u201cAnd, if you drive a car in the United States, you likely do it every day. It\u2019s time to get rid of right-turn-on-red.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When D.C. sought to keep its ban on red light turns a half century ago, it was resisting a national trend \u2014 today, it\u2019s riding one. But in both cases, the city is running into resistance from Congress in yet another demonstration of the limits of home rule.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frederic J. Frommer (@ffrommer), a sports and politics historian who has written for the <\/em>Washington Post<em>, the <\/em>New York Times<em>, the <\/em>Atlantic<em>, and other national publications, is working on a book on \u201870s baseball. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In GOP-D.C. fight, Republicans target the ban on right turns on red<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4045,"featured_media":2597520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/iStock-traffic-light-red-stop-capitol-112524.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32920,4762,78927,39568,33224],"class_list":["post-2597519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-house-republicans","tag-legislation","tag-right-turn-on-red","tag-traffic-safety","tag-washington-dc"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/iStock-traffic-light-red-stop-capitol-112524.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4045"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2597519"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2597523,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597519\/revisions\/2597523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2597520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2597519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2597519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2597519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}