Thank you, President Ford, for turning right

As America mourns the passing of the late former President Gerald Ford, in the automotive world we remind ourselves of one of the simplest yet greatest things he ever did for drivers in America: the Right Turn On Red (RTOR).

Highway traffic policy is a matter for each state to determine, but as President, Ford was a strong proponent of the states passing it into law. He pushed for and signed a federal bill encouraging the policy, but for those unfamiliar, the reason may surprise you. Naturally it wasn't about making driving more convenient, it was an energy decision, designed to reduce the number of hours cars spend idling at intersections. The context was the 1973 oil crisis when OPEC was locked in an embargo, and President Ford had the foresight to initiate policies to reduce America's borderline-addiction dependence on foreign oil.

Thank you, Mr. President. You'll be missed.

[Source: Autoblog Green]