Typically, cities and towns across Washington and the United States install traffic signals in heavily traveled areas to help regulate traffic flow and prevent car wrecks, but research shows that deaths resulting from motorists blowing through these signaled intersections have reached a 10-year high. At Reining, Barber & Henry, we have seen firsthand the devastation red-light runners often cause, and we have helped many people who suffered injuries or lost people they love due to similar circumstances pursue recourse.
According to the AAA Foundation, 28% of all deaths that occur in signaled intersections happen because motorists run red lights, even though the vast majority of American drivers recognize that running a red light is an extremely dangerous action. While 85% of today’s drivers contend that blowing through a red light is an extremely risky thing to do, two-thirds of them also admit to having passed through a red light within the last 30 days, despite having had the opportunity to stop.
Research also reveals that the majority of the time, the people who lose their lives because of red-light runners are not typically the people who run the red lights. Instead, in 2017, 46% of the people who died because of red-light runners were either passengers or other drivers, while more than 5% of those who passed away were pedestrians or bicyclists.
Some communities are installing cameras at signaled intersections to help identify offenders and raise awareness about the dangers of blowing through red lights. Typically, they do so in areas where crashes commonly occur, or in particularly high-traffic areas. Learn more about car wrecks on our webpage.
