In Washington, you can turn left onto a one-way street on red. This is legal when you are on a one-way OR two-way street, which is unique to Washington and a handful of other states. This applies to turning left onto freeway on-ramps (one way streets) as well.
Little known fun fact: in Oregon you can turn left on red as long as you're turning onto a one way street, even if you're turning from a two way street.
As a pedestrian, cyclist, motorcycle, and driver, I'd sure miss right on red.
One of the nice things about Seattle and WA traffic law is that you can turn LEFT on red when going from a one-way street onto another one way street. In addition to right on red, of course.
Wikipedia says left on red from one-way to one-way is legal in 37 states, so you should be good in most places doing that. Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, and B.C. (Canada) allow the left turn from two-way onto one-way as an added bonus.
For those Washingtonians that didn't know about left-on-red (I didn't before a couple weeks ago), you can turn left on red (or a red arrow) as long as it's from a one- or two-way street onto a one-way street (or freeway on-ramp), after a stop and if it's clear.
I've never done it myself and don't intend to start since I think it's a bit obscure and I don't want to argue with a cop about it if I get pulled over.
left turn to one-way on red is legal in michigan as well, it turns out. having lived in michigan and now washington, I'm glad I learned that this is not the case everywhere before it became an issue.
How is that California-style? That's the general rule in USA/Canada (not sure about Mexico). Some dense cities like New York and Montreal forbid right-turns on red city-wide, but those are the exception.
Being allowed to turn right on red is the law in every US state. The only real exception is that it's banned in a few downtowns and, obviously, wherever a sign says otherwise.
In the majority of intersections that I've driven (in the midwest) with no right turn on red, there is an obvious obstruction to see fast moving cars passing through the intersection.
Also, in some areas with many one-way streets it is legal to make a left-turn on red from one one-way street to another.
In Milwaukee there are a few spots you can turn left on red technically "after stopping". The locations I know are freeway off-ramps onto one way streets, and simple left turns onto one way streets.
reply