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“Stop on Red” public safety campaign highlights LA as third worst city for traffic fatalities cause by red light running.

Running Red Lights Poses Serious Dangers in Los AngelesThe first week of this month, the National Coalition for Safer Roads promoted awareness of the dangers of running red lights in their annual “Stop on Red” campaign. A key tool in this year’s campaign was an interactive map showing the exact location of traffic fatalities caused by cars running red lights between 2004 and 2013.

Los Angeles ranked number 3 in the top 10 most dangerous cities for red light running fatalities during this period, with 125 fatalities in the city proper. When the greater LA area stretching from Santa Barbara to San Diego and inland to Victorville is selected in the map, the death toll is easily the highest in the nation with 778 fatalities related to red light running.

Red Light Running Facts

Running a yellow light can sometimes be questionable, but running a red light is an inherently reckless driving decision. It is no surprise that vehicles driving through intersections after their turn to proceed has passed—sometimes as much as 12 seconds after—causes serious accidents. In fact, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, red light running is the number one cause of car accidents in urban areas.

In 2013 (the most recent year for which we have official accident data), red light running caused 697 fatalities and about 127,000 injuries. About half of these fatalities were not red-light runners themselves, but instead innocent victims including bicyclists, pedestrians, and other motorists.

In 2014, red light running was also rampant. According to data collected from traffic cameras, over 3.7 million drivers ran a red light. Afternoons between 1 and 5 proved to be the period most likely to see a driver run a red light, with 30 percent of captured violations occurring during this period. Fridays were the worst day for red light running with nearly 600,000 violations occurring on Fridays in 2014.

Traffic Cameras Can Help

The installation of traffic cameras at intersections, and especially the issuing of automatic citations based on data from these cameras, is helping to stem the tide of red light running accident injuries and deaths. According to research compiled by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, red light cameras can reduce fatal red light running accidents 40 to 50 percent and injury accidents 25 to 30 percent.

Injured in a Red Light Running Accident?

If you have been injured in an accident due to another driver recklessly running a red light, you are almost certainly entitled to compensation. Be sure to contact an experienced car accident attorney such as Fernando D. Vargas to help you with your claim.