It’s ‘right’ to stop then go at PGA exit

When traffic backs up in the right-turn lane onto PGA Boulevard from the northbound I-95 exit ramp, there’s a likely culprit.

The offender is usually a driver at the front of the line who’s hesitant to take advantage of the ability to turn right on red. After all, who wants to take their chances when the cars whizzing by in the other travel lanes are going so fast the sheet metal on your car rattles like it’s the Daytona 500?

Some people are insistent on waiting for the green. Others take a hint from the drivers behind them blaring their horns and eventually creep out into the right lane, which isn’t heavily used in that limited stretch of PGA. I confess I’ve done both.

Whenever you’re making a right on red, you should still come to a complete stop at the marked line and wait until the way is clear to pro- Sarah Peters ceed. After that, there’s no need to wait.

One reader, Alex Brault, said she never uses the interchange anymore because she knows there’s always someone sitting there waiting for the light to turn green. She isn’t alone. Wendy Haas Patterson said in a Facebook comment that’s why she never uses the lane — she’d rather be up front when the light turns green than behind the dozen cars in the right lane that didn’t move.

Once traffic starts backing up, the honking — and the obscene gestures — begin.

The PGA interchange isn’t the only one where drivers experience this dilemma. My colleague covering Boynton Beach wrote about a similar issue at Boynton Beach Boulevard and Woolbright Road for southbound cars heading west.

Further complicating the situation at PGA, right turns on red are prohibited at one interchange south at the Northlake Boulevard exit ramp of northbound I-95. Attempt the same maneuver there, and you could end up in a serious accident.

The far right lane on PGA does eventually become a right turn-only lane, and there’s a good chance during rush hour you could get squeezed out of merging.

Reader Laura Seitz Hass described it well. She wrote, “I think people are looking for incoming traffic. And so many are trying to get over all the lanes to turn left ASAP so they want a traffic break.”

The problem is that waiting when it’s clear to go only aggravates the severe rushhour congestion, not to mention other drivers. It can also lead to fender-benders, although I’m sure distracted driving and speeding share the blame for some of those.

Bottom line: Exercise caution, but go when it’s safe to go.