It’s not against the law to turn left against a red light in Western Australia, as long as a road sign permits it – but authorities didn’t put this one up.
Drivers have been put in a dangerous situation after an official-looking traffic sign was affixed to traffic lights at a notorious intersection in Western Australia.
According to the Examiner Newspaper, the sign – which reads ‘Left turn on red permitted after stopping’ – appeared over the weekend in the suburb of Kelmscott, around 30 kilometres south-east of Perth.
A spokesperson from Main Roads Western Australia confirmed the sign was unauthorised, and was removed after several days by road workers.
While the practice of allowing a driver to turn left at a red light is allowed under the state’s traffic laws – provided there is a sign permitting the action – Main Roads confirmed to the Examiner no signs have been installed in Western Australia to date.
The road sign was identical to another located in Sydney’s Inner West (top), which was put there by Transport for NSW.
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Though rare in Australia, the practice of turning on a red light is a common practice in much of North America, with the traffic lights acting as a defacto stop sign.
“It was a very dangerous prank, if that’s what it was,” Main Roads WA spokesperson Dave Roberts told the Examiner.
“If Main Roads ever did install one of these signs, there would be a large campaign to communicate the change and explain it properly to the public.”
Despite the installation not being sanctioned by authorities, the public is free to purchase official-looking road signs at will.
At one online store, Drive was able to find the same ‘Left turn on red’ sign for $93.50 – suggesting the prank may not have been cheap.
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