How many cars run traffic lights?

It's not just wayward cyclists who run the occasional red light:

"In just its first three weeks of operation, an automated camera
system at a Southwest Side (Chicago: 55th and Western) intersection
nabbed 1,114 motorists who ran red lights, officials reported
Monday....Only cars that enter an intersection after the light already
has turned red are cited" - Chicago Tribune 12/2/03

This was the first intersection where the camera has gone live. That's
one motor vehicle every 27 minutes, 24 hours a day.

Of course, in terms of danger a motor vehicle running red through a
major intersection is considerably more dangerous to others, too.

"Robert Dole" wrote in message
om...
It's not just wayward cyclists who run the occasional red light:

"In just its first three weeks of operation, an automated camera
system at a Southwest Side (Chicago: 55th and Western) intersection
nabbed 1,114 motorists who ran red lights, officials reported
Monday....Only cars that enter an intersection after the light already
has turned red are cited" - Chicago Tribune 12/2/03

This was the first intersection where the camera has gone live. That's
one motor vehicle every 27 minutes, 24 hours a day.

Of course, in terms of danger a motor vehicle running red through a
major intersection is considerably more dangerous to others, too.

Is the presence of the camera indicated to motorists, and/or has it been
widely publicized.

I ask because that rate seems low. I would expect it to be at least one
every two minutes, or however long the light's cycle is. The drivers must be
alerted, and most of them are being careful.

RichC

In article ,
says...

"Robert Dole" wrote in message
om...
It's not just wayward cyclists who run the occasional red light:

"In just its first three weeks of operation, an automated camera
system at a Southwest Side (Chicago: 55th and Western) intersection
nabbed 1,114 motorists who ran red lights, officials reported
Monday....Only cars that enter an intersection after the light already
has turned red are cited" - Chicago Tribune 12/2/03

This was the first intersection where the camera has gone live. That's
one motor vehicle every 27 minutes, 24 hours a day.

Of course, in terms of danger a motor vehicle running red through a
major intersection is considerably more dangerous to others, too.

Is the presence of the camera indicated to motorists, and/or has it been
widely publicized.

I ask because that rate seems low. I would expect it to be at least one
every two minutes, or however long the light's cycle is. The drivers must be

It may depend on the area, but I would disagree with this. Most of
the time when I come up to the light, I do not see someone running it
after it turns red. Occasionally, but definitely a relatively small
percentage of the time.

--
Dave Kerber
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"David Kerber" wrote in message
...

It may depend on the area, but I would disagree with this. Most of
the time when I come up to the light, I do not see someone running it
after it turns red. Occasionally, but definitely a relatively small
percentage of the time.

Red light running seems endemic to southern CA, but with hundreds of cars going
through an intersection at every light, a few red light runners are still a
small percentage of the total. So it probably seems worse than it is, compared
to other places -- but I'd still put money on it actually being *much* worse.
It would be interesting to see some statistics though.

Matt O.

"David Kerber" wrote in message
...

It may depend on the area, but I would disagree with this. Most of
the time when I come up to the light, I do not see someone running it
after it turns red. Occasionally, but definitely a relatively small
percentage of the time.

I'm sure it varies by locality. There are intersections I encounter in
Philadelphia where I assume, during rush hour, that at least two or three
cars will run every light, and I'm rarely disappointed. There are lights
(usually ones where the driver is crossing a "T") that are routinely ignored
completely by many drivers.

I don't think it can be understated: in the minds of many drivers, stopping
their cars is abhorrent and they will do much to avoid it.

RichC

I bet there were far more cyclists running the red light (on a percentage
basis) than cars.

Just my own observation in the area where I ride and drive, but I seem
to see three main kinds of red light running by motorists.

1. People seem to think that if they are close on the tail of someone
else it's okay. If someone goes through a light at the last moment of
the yellow, another three or four cars will follow him through,
although the light has gone red by then.

2. People will block intersections waiting to make a turn or go
straight in heavy traffic, and still be sitting there when the light
changes.

3. While waiting at red lights, some drivers start edging into the
intersection, hoping to save, what? fractions of a second? This can
get almost funny. They'll edge so far into the intersection
sometimes, that they've effectively already run the light, and
sometimes they are actually almost under the light, and can't see when
it changes. Then they lose time, because other drivers have to honk
at them to let them know that the light has changed.

On 2 Dec 2003 10:59:03 -0800, (Robert Dole) wrote:

It's not just wayward cyclists who run the occasional red light:

"In just its first three weeks of operation, an automated camera
system at a Southwest Side (Chicago: 55th and Western) intersection
nabbed 1,114 motorists who ran red lights, officials reported
Monday....Only cars that enter an intersection after the light already
has turned red are cited" - Chicago Tribune 12/2/03

This was the first intersection where the camera has gone live. That's
one motor vehicle every 27 minutes, 24 hours a day.

Of course, in terms of danger a motor vehicle running red through a
major intersection is considerably more dangerous to others, too.

"Tony Wright" wrote in message
.. .

I bet there were far more cyclists running the red light (on a percentage
basis) than cars.

You may be right, but there's no comparison in the danger they present.

Matt O.

"Rich Clark" wrote in message
...


Is the presence of the camera indicated to motorists, and/or has it been
widely publicized.

The program has been highly publicized; I haven't seen any signage at any
Chicago intersection personally; I'm too far from 55th and Western (about 27
miles) to be motivated to check that intersection out.

I looked up the article in the Trib. If everybody pays the tickets issued,
this one intersection would generate over $30,000 a week in fines. This is
MY idea of a revenue source: somebody else pays, and it makes the city
safer.

Here's a link to the full article (free Tribune registration required):
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,7566222.story

"Robert Dole" wrote in message
om...

Of course, in terms of danger a motor vehicle running red through a
major intersection is considerably more dangerous to others, too.

Actually, what I see the most is "serial red light running," that while
annoying and inconvenient to the motorists who actually have the green, is
really not all that dangerous. It happens most often with motorists turning
left. The green arrow will go away, and more often than not, at least three,
sometimes as many as seven, vehicles will continue through the red light.
Actually this morning was one of the few times I saw a single car run the
red, turning left, long after the light had turned red and cross traffic
(me) was halfway across the intersection.

The city I live in has installed several cameras specifically to catch the
left turn serial red light runners.

While I don't run red lights, either on my bike or while driving, there are
different degrees of dangerousness in the type of red light running.

Actually, I think that running stop signs is a more apt comparison, since
both motorists and cyclists routinely don't come to complete stops.