The NJ Turn-on-Signal Statute
N.J.S.A. 39:4-115, explained.
This is the section that makes right on red legal in New Jersey — and the same section that attaches four conditions to it. A 3-point charge that usually turns on whether the stop was a real one. Points verified August 2026.
What the Statute Says
The general rule, and the exception
Subsection (a) is the general rule: at an intersection controlled by traffic signals or by a traffic or police officer, a turn — right or left — is made with proper care to avoid accidents and only on the "go" signal, unless an officer, an official sign, or a special signal directs otherwise.
Subsection (b) is the exception everyone actually uses. A driver intending to turn right may make that turn on a "stop" or "caution" signal — unless an official sign of the State, municipality, or county with jurisdiction over the intersection prohibits it. That is New Jersey's right-on-red rule, and it lives here.
One more requirement applies to both: the approach and the turn are to be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, unless the intersection is posted otherwise.
Right on Red
Four conditions, all of them required
The permission in subsection (b) is conditional. The statute spells out what a lawful right on red involves:
| # | What the statute requires |
|---|---|
| 1 | Come to a full stop |
| 2 | Observe traffic in all directions |
| 3 | Yield to other vehicular traffic travelling in the direction the turn will be made |
| 4 | Stop and remain stopped for pedestrians crossing within a marked crosswalk, or at an unmarked crosswalk, into which the driver is turning |
Two details are worth pulling out. The pedestrian condition is not a duty to yield — it is a duty to stop and remain stopped, which is a higher obligation, and it applies at unmarked crosswalks as well as painted ones. And a rolling stop fails condition one, which means the remaining three never come into it.
Where a sign prohibits the turn entirely, subsection (b) simply does not apply — and then whether that sign was posted, and visible from the approach, becomes the question.
Points & Cost
What a conviction carries
Three points on the MVC schedule. The section carries no penalty of its own, so the court fine comes from the Statewide Violations Bureau Schedule, which lists this offence at $86 — $141 in a Safe Corridor or construction zone.
The reason these cases are worth attention is rarely the fine. Three points is halfway to the 6-point line where the MVC begins billing a surcharge of $150 a year for three years plus $25 per point above six — and where a right-on-red summons followed a collision or a pedestrian incident, the traffic charge rarely arrives on its own. The points list has the full schedule.
Nothing on this page predicts an outcome in any particular case; it describes what the section requires and what therefore has to be established.
Common Questions
39:4-115 questions we hear
How many points is an improper turn at a traffic light in NJ?
Three. The MVC point schedule lists 39:4-115, improper turn at a traffic light, at 3 points. That is half of the 6 points within three years that starts the MVC surcharge.
Is right on red legal in New Jersey?
Yes, unless a sign says otherwise — and 39:4-115(b) is the provision that permits it. You may turn right on a stop or caution signal unless an official sign of the State, municipality or county with jurisdiction prohibits it. But the permission comes with four conditions attached, and failing any one of them is what the ticket is about.
What do I actually have to do before turning right on red?
The statute lists it: come to a full stop, observe traffic in all directions, yield to other vehicular traffic travelling in the direction you are turning into, and stop and remain stopped for pedestrians crossing within a marked crosswalk or at an unmarked crosswalk you are turning into. All of it has to happen with proper care to avoid accidents. A rolling stop fails the first condition before any of the others are reached.
Does the pedestrian rule apply at unmarked crosswalks too?
Yes. The statute says marked crosswalk or unmarked crosswalk, and the duty is not merely to yield but to stop and remain stopped for a pedestrian crossing into the roadway you are turning into. On the face of the section that is a stricter obligation than a duty to yield: yielding can be satisfied while still moving, while this one is not.
Ticketed under 39:4-115?
Tell us the intersection, the town, and whether anything else was charged alongside it. You will hear a straight read and a flat fee before you decide anything.
4.8 · 300+ Google reviews
Legal information on this page reviewed August 2026 against current New Jersey statutes and official schedules — the NJ MVC points schedule and the NJ Courts Statewide Violations Bureau schedule. Laws change; nothing here is legal advice for your specific case.