Almost everyone has done it. Maybe you were toying with the radio or eating at the time, or possible you were just mentally preoccupied. Regardless, almost everyone has run a red light at one point or another, but not everyone understands the dangers of doing so. Traffic crashes are the most significant cause of preventable death in America. One-third of all driving behaviors can be reduced by automated enforcement, like cameras at traffic intersections. The National Safety Council says that running red lights, speeding, ignoring school and work zone signs, and avoiding railroad crossing warnings account for about 15,000 deaths in our nation each year. Also, hundreds of thousands of people suffer permanent damage from making these mistakes. Economically, people who ignore red lights and other regular traffic signals cost our nation about $54 billion every year in medical expenses.

Studies show that most red light running isn’t just an accident due to inattention. Most people who violate traffic signals are under 26 years old and don’t wear seatbelts when they drive. A lot of time these people are impaired by alcohol, which is why they are unable to perceive the color of the light when they approach an intersection. When a person enters an intersection on a red light, they put themselves and others in that intersection at a direct risk to injury or death. A lot of times, the traffic law violator enters the intersection at least two seconds after the light has turned red.

By this time, others that are driving through the space in conflicting traffic patterns are already well into the center of the intersection. Most of the time, a driver who runs a red light is 87 feet from a traffic signal when they notice that it has turned yellow. This would mean that the reasonable response would be to stop and wait, but instead these drivers zoom through the intersection anyway. One survey says that nearly 30 percent of drivers speed up when they see a yellow light rather than slowing down. These lights are supposed to serve as a warning that you need to stop, not an encouragement to zoom into an intersection at the last second before the light turns red.

Because of the trend to violate traffic signals, many states have implemented cameras which snap pictures of drivers who run a red light and then issue a hefty ticket. In California, the cost for running a red light can exceed $500. While some citizens argue that the cameras may not be fair, in general they are a great way to catch offenders and discourage people from taking the law lightly. Oftentimes men and women will rationalize that they can violate traffic regulations as long as a police officer is not there to catch them. Cameras contradict that philosophy. In Raleigh, North Carolina, the police force installed red light cameras into the dangerous intersections. After reviewing the effect, they found that there was a 42 percent drop in right hand turn collisions, a 25 percent drop in rear-end crashes, and a 22 percent drop in the total red light crashes during the state.

Whether or not the red light you are stopped at has red light camera, make sure that you follow the signals. When the light is yellow, slow down. When it is red, you need to stop. There’s no excuse for running a red light unless you are driving a fire-truck, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. By being safe at red lights, you can reduce your risk of a crash. Make sure that you always look at the signal ahead while approaching an intersection. If you look down for a moment, you might fail to see the traffic light change color and become involved in a terrible crash.