That’s more than enough reason for Arizona drivers to slow down and stop on red, according to Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski.
“Crashes caused by drivers who ignore red lights and stop signs are among the easiest to prevent,” Halikowski said at the start of National Stop on Red Week. “All it takes is for drivers to slow down, put distractions away and remember that red means stop.”
The Federal Highway Administration began National Stop on Red Week in 1995 to promote intersection safety and safe driving habits. National Stop on Red Week aims to educate drivers about the dangers of red-light running and to reduce the number and severity of crashes.
ADOT’s 2014 Crash Facts Report shows that there were at least 26 fatal crashes in Arizona last year in which drivers were cited for disregarding a traffic signal, such as running a red light, and 20 additional fatal crashes when drivers were cited for ignoring a stop sign. There were at least 2,653 crashes that resulted in injuries because a driver failed to stop at a red light or a stop sign.
Those numbers match Arizona drivers’ performance in 2013, when there were a combined 48 fatal crashes and 2,669 injury crashes. Nationally, 697 people were killed and 133,000 injured in crashes caused by red-light running, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“Drivers running red lights and stop signs are a more serious problem across Arizona than most people realize,” Halikowski said. “Last year, there were nearly 5,700 violations in Arizona, or more than one-and-a-half violations every hour of every day.”
For Arizona crash statistics since 1997, visit http://azdot.gov/mvd/Statistics/arizona-motor-vehicle-crash-facts.