According to the National Transportation Highway Administration (NHTSA) statistics show that nearly 1.000 people are killed and an additional 2,000 people are injured annually in accidents in which a vehicle has run a red light.
ABC 15 in Phoenix recently reported that in addition to the sobering NHTSA figures, AAA recently conducted a study which rated Arizona as being the number one state in the nation for the number of people who are killed by drivers who blow through a red light.
AAA spokesperson Aldo Vazquez told ABC in an interview, “We live in a fast-moving society, but impatience can lead to deadly consequences.”
The report issued by AAA found that 350 Arizonans lost their lives to accidents involving someone who ran a red light in the years 2008 and 2017. Nearly half or 46% of those who lost their lives were passengers in one of the vehicles involved in a red-light crash, and 35% of those killed were drivers who ran a red traffic signal light.
While many drivers who run red lights are aware of how potentially dangerous the practice is, they do it anyway. The AAA data indicates that one in three drivers admits that they have run a red light at an intersection in the last 30 days.
One solution is the installation of red-light cameras. According to Vazquez, even if there are no witnesses, because of increased use of red light cameras and security cameras on more homes and businesses, the chances of drivers who disobey traffic signals getting caught goes up significantly.
