Indianapolis issues hundreds of no-turn-on-red tickets a year. Here are 5 hotspots
In August 2023, signs banning right turns on red went up at nearly 100 intersections in Mile Square as part of the city's effort to make streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Some Republican state lawmakers pushed back on the restrictions as a "war on cars," introducing legislation that would have removed the no-turn-on-red signs. But the signs were allowed to remain after city officials agreed to stop putting up new ones downtown until July 1, 2025. The Department of Public Works has no immediate plans to install new ones and will conduct a study of their effectiveness before doing so, a spokesperson said.
Since the wave of new signs, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has written 94 total tickets in Mile Square as of May 1, 37 of which were tied to the South Meridian Street and West Washington Street intersection, according to data obtained by IndyStar. Across the city, drivers received 411 tickets for no-turn-on-red violations in that same timespan.
Police issued about 20 such citations a month. While nearly a quarter occurred in Mile Square — the downtown area bound by North Street, East Street, West Street, and South Street — there were multiple hotspots far beyond the city's urban core.
IMPD's traffic unit tends to write tickets in daily and weekly blitzes near troublesome intersections, the data shows.
The intersection of East Washington Street and Pine Street near downtown saw the most citations, with 96 drivers ticketed at the site. IMPD reported 49 tickets on nine non-consecutive days of August and September 2023. Then enforcement largely cooled off until February 2024, when officers logged 20 tickets on six days.
When officers in the traffic unit are on patrol, they don't focus solely on enforcing no-turn-on-red violations, IMPD Sgt. Amanda Hibschman told IndyStar. Traffic officers also watch for drivers who are speeding, running red lights or breaking other rules of the road.
"We tend to focus on higher-traffic areas, busier intersections, school zones and locations where we receive the highest number of traffic complaints," Hibschman said.
One of the main advocates for no-turn-on-red restrictions in Mile Square, the public health nonprofit Health by Design argued that crash data shows how drivers' failure to yield and turning movements are among the top contributors to pedestrian injuries and deaths citywide. In 2024, 41 pedestrians and cyclists died in vehicle crashes while 832, a record high, were involved in non-fatal incidents, according to Safe Streets Indy, a group that tracks collision reports.
Health by Design CEO Marc McAleavey said that while 411 tickets citywide and 96 in Mile Square may seem low compared with the actual number of violations, he understands that IMPD lacks the officers to do more robust enforcement. And enforcement alone can't be expected to make drivers comply with no-turn-on-red rules, he said — that will take smarter road designs with enhanced visibility for pedestrians, along with a cultural shift toward safer walking and bicycling.
"The core of the issue is that our downtown streets should be designed for people first — not just as a pass-through for cars," McAleavey said in an emailed statement.
From Aug. 1, 2023, to May 1, 2025, here are the five Indianapolis intersections where drivers received the most tickets for illegally turning right on red, according to IMPD data:
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