Posted on 08/05/2026 6:34:54 PM PDT by Red Badger
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville drivers could soon face new restrictions at red lights across much of the city. Metro Council is weighing a proposal that would ban most right turns on red within the Urban Services District as part of a broader effort to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries.
District 16 Council Member Ginny Welsch, one of the bill's sponsors, said Nashville's roads have become increasingly dangerous.
"We know overall that the streets of Nashville are extremely dangerous. For the past several years, we've had over 100 people killed on our roads," Welsch said.
The bill is led by Council Member Sandra Sepulveda and co-sponsored by Welsch and others. It is part of Nashville's Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
"So this is just one tool in our toolbox to implement Vision Zero, the goal of which is to eliminate all pedestrian deaths, all deaths on the street," Welsch said.
Welsch said driver behavior at red lights is a key factor behind the push for the ban.
"We know a lot of people are injured because of right turn on red. We know that people don't stop on right turns on red. They kind of roll through the stop," Welsch said.
Some residents say the change would make them feel safer. Jen Swanlund, a nurse who lives in the area, said the current rules create dangerous situations for people on foot.
"I don't think it's a bad idea with the way the traffic is around here and how many accidents there are. It might be good if it was just one rule and nobody had to worry about when they could turn," Swanlund said.
Swanlund said she has experienced close calls while walking home.
"Well, I have a lot of days where I'm walking home, and somebody almost hits me because they don't look both ways and they turn on red because they were only looking for oncoming traffic," Swanlund said.
Others expressed concerns off camera that the ban could create more traffic delays and confusion for drivers. Welsch pushed back on those concerns, pointing to intersections where similar restrictions are already in place.
"We have seen that this small thing has really had a positive impact on keeping people alive on the streets," Welsch said.
The bill receives its first reading at Metro Council on Tuesday. If approved, the new rules would take effect 150 days after the ordinance is enacted.
Under the proposal, the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure would install "No Turn on Red" signs at signalized intersections throughout the Urban Services District. Transportation officials could still permit right turns on red at certain intersections following an engineering and safety study. Emergency vehicles responding to emergencies would be exempt from the ban.
The city would also launch a public education campaign before full enforcement begins. During the first 90 days after implementation, Metro Council is requesting that officers issue warnings in most cases unless a violation contributes to a crash or creates an immediate danger to another roadway user.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@NewsChannel5.com
Get rid of foreign drivers who can’t read signs and drive like they did in their former countries and the problem goes away.
“Vision Zero” — eliminate all pedestrian deaths
“Net Zero” — eliminate carbon emissions
Right turn on red was pushed for years as a way to save fuel, then it morphed into a way to reduce carbon emissions, the most sacrosanct thing to libs.
Who wins? A few pesky pedestrians killed at intersections? Or greeniacs in their never-ending quest to end “global warming,” er, “climate change”?
“Right on red” is an unknown thing in the EU............
For what it’s worth, in my experience the worst drivers on the planet are whites, blacks, whatever from Boston.
These jackwagons make left-hand turns by slowly egging their way into the traffic, cutting off cars, and making the left.
Turn signals are an option in many cases.
New Yorkers drive maniacal, and we Pennsylvanians making a left at at light literally start making the left when the opposing light turns yellow, then gun it the nanosecond we get the green.
However, my kin and New Yawkerz have SKILLS. Bostonians don’t, but they act like it.
Do this...take a drive around Memphis and count how many vehicles on the roads have impact damage. I am not joking.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_on_red
Get rid of the foreign pedestrians as well. I've seen low-IQ behavior from people who clearly lived in dung holes that didn't have vehicular traffic.
Right in Red may be the ONLY instance in the past 50 years where the government RELAXED a law/gave people a “right” they didn’t have before.
No Turn On Red signs are basically the govt saying “sorry folks, we didn’t want you to have MORE freedom after all. Back in your little hole.”
Pro tip: don’t walk in front of a vehicle about to make a right turn if the driver is looking the other way.
Cops ticketing folks that don’t come to a full stop before turning would cut down on pedestrians getting hit, and would provide a financial windfall to the city.
The problem is that too many people forget that right turn on red still has to yield to traffic that had the green light. They also forget it’s right turn on red AFTER stopping.
If everyone WOULD stop on red and LOOK before turning right, there wouldn’t be a need to go back to stopping until green.
I’ve had to slam on the brakes (in both personal vehicles and the big rig) to avoid a collision with someone turning right on red without stopping, and apparently not looking.
It can be hard forgetting that you no longer have to pull the burro’s reins when you come to the stoplight.
The mayor of Nashville is a Mamdani wannabe.
Nashville is overcrowded, overtaxed, and overregulated.
It was once a good city.
YUP
Ginny
Sandra
Jen
?...................
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