I find it interesting that the article compares this to right turn on red. There's a fair amount of evidence that right turn on red is pretty damaging to pedestrians and cyclists. For instance, this report [0] from the US DOT saw an increase in collisions with bikes and pedestrians of between 50 and 125%.

Not exactly the horse I'd hitch my carriage to...

[0]: http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/25000/25600/25603/DOT-HS-806-182.pdf