Running the Red Light – an Out of Control Violation

auto_insuranceHow often did you run a red light? Once? Three times? According to a newly released national survey evaluated by Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, many motorists ran a red light at least once.

Farmers made a random written survey last year regarding driving habits of 1,000 people. The results were: 48.6 percent of people from the ages of 18 to 34 said that they drove through a stoplight at least one time during the past one year. Seven of the 48.6 percent said that this became a habit, and that they do this very often. There were more men than women who passed by a red light in the past year. 36% of motorists who drove through red lights resulted in motor crashes.

Mary Flynn, media relations manager for Farmers Insurance Group, says “Stopping at red lights without a doubt can prevent thousands of needless tragic accidents in a given year. We at Farmers urge motorists to always ask themselves if the few seconds they might save by running a red light are worth the risk of injuring, or even killing themselves or others.”

Flynn also said, “Keep in mind that the vast majority of the fatalities in these type of tragic incidents are innocent victims. These are pedestrians and other motorists. Make no mistake that a lost life in any vehicular crash is tragic, but that’s even more true when the fatal accident is caused by a red light runner.”

The following are sources provided by Insurance.com:

Cities and States with highest death rates in red light running crashes per 100,000 people, 1992-98
Sources: Fatality Analysis Reporting System, U.S. Department of Transportation; population data from U.S.

  • Population Deaths Rates per 100,000
  • Phoenix, AZ 1,125,599 122 10.8
  • Memphis, TN 614,067 49 8
  • Mesa, AZ 333,756 26 7.8
  • St. Petersburg, FL 237,480 18 7.6
  • Birmingham, AL 256,386 18 7
  • Dallas, TX 1,047,816 73 7
  • Albuquerque, NM 412,625 28 6.8
  • Louisville, KY 260,572 17 6.5
  • Detroit, MI 998,523 65 6.5
  • Population Deaths Rates per 100,000
  • Arizona 4,280,998 305 7.1
  • Nevada 1,529,841 59 3.9
  • Michigan 9,655,540 355 3.7
  • Texas 18,677,046 663 3.5
  • Alabama 4,255,686 143 3.4
  • New Mexico 1,670,580 56 3.4
  • Florida 14,197,723 434 3.1
  • California 31,645,023 956 3
  • Delaware 717,499 21 2.9

Note: cities with population more than 200,000
Census Bureau, 1992-98