By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
This past week was National Stop on Red Week. Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas says the statistics on the danger of red-light running are surprising.
"The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that a little bit more than 1,100 people were killed and more than 107,000 were injured in crashes that involved red light running in 2022," Steward said. "The number of fatalities represents a nearly 4% increase over the prior year and a nearly 22% jump compared to 2017 numbers."
The Kansas statistics are smaller, but still larger than hoped.
"According to the most recent crash data from KDOT, running a red light or disregarding signs and signals were noted as a contributing crash circumstance more than 3500 times on crashes on Kansas roads," Steward said.
Among drivers involved in fatal, red-light-running, multiple-vehicle crashes in 2022, the red-light runners were more likely than other drivers to be male, to be younger and to have prior crashes or alcohol-impaired driving convictions, according to IIHS.
"It's happening everywhere," Steward said. "Whether people are just not paying attention to the road, or thinking they can race through a red light and not have to stop, it can be very dangerous, if you're hitting a vehicle coming across the intersection."
IIHS research has shown that red-light cameras reduce the fatal red-light running crash rate of large cities by 21% and the rate of all types of fatal crashes at signalized intersections by 14%. Well-publicized camera programs can discourage would-be violators who may be less willing to risk a citation than they were to risk a life.