May, Not Must

While stopped at a red light on my way to work this morning, I found myself behind a Crown Victoria and in front of a car driven by an impatient young woman.

We were in a right-hand turn lane.

Traffic was proceeding through the intersection, so the Crown Vic was staying put.

When the traffic had cleared a bit, the car in back of me honked.

The light remained red and the Crown Vic didn't move.

The impatient car honked again.

The Crown Vic did not move until the light turned green. (I'll never know if the C.V. driver did this just to tick off the honking driver or not, but I kind of hope so.)

I doubt the impatient young woman reads my blog, but I would refer her to the State of Maine Statute regarding Traffic Control Devices. In general, one may make a right turn on red, not must.

A rules and vocabulary lesson, all in one!