5 Proven Ways To Stop Red-Light Running
November 5th, 2007 Posted in Helpful Information, Red-Light CamerasWhile most cities choose to take the easy way out and install red-light ticket cameras to profit from this problem (without solving it), there are several proven ways for communities to stop red-light running at their intersections.
1) Increase the yellow-light time
This is an easy way to reduce red-light violations. It has been effective from Virginia to California in preventing accidents and saving lives.
- A study by researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute illustrates the positive safety impact of even a modestly longer yellow light.
- The Virginia Department of Transportation noted a significant decrease in violations at an intersection in Fairfax County when the yellow light was lengthened by 1.5 seconds.
- Critics of longer yellow lights claim there is no long-term benefit because the public will grow accustomed to the longer lights, but research shows this is not the case.
2) Add an all-red clearance interval
A yellow light allows drivers who cannot safely stop to pass through the intersection before the light turns red. Occasionally, even safe and attentive drivers may misjudge the time it takes to make it completely through an intersection.
Adding an all-red clearance interval (a brief period where the lights in all directions are red) after the yellow-light phase reduces unnecessary accidents. AAA of Michigan and the city of Detroit partnered to make intersections safer and they found an all-red clearance interval to be effective.
3) Make traffic lights more visible
There are a number of reasons motorists might have difficulty seeing traffic lights at intersections. Making traffic lights more visible decreases red-light violations and intersection accidents. Here are three simple things that can be done to help all motorists see traffic lights better:
- Make the lights bigger. With AAA of Michigan’s help, Detroit installed several new lights that were 50 percent larger. This small change helped to decrease both accidents and injuries at problem intersections.
- Add metal backers to lights. This is especially important for lights that face either east or west and can be easily affected by glare from the sun during certain parts of the day.
- Remove any other obstructions. If an intersection has above average red-light violations or accidents, transportation officials should make sure that no signs, trees, transit stops, or buildings obstruct motorists’ view of the traffic lights.
4) Improve intersections for motorists
Anything about an intersection that confuses or frustrates motorists increases red-light violations. Communities can do all of the following to make intersections safer:
- Repaint lane markings at intersections, especially turn lane markings. This alone had a major impact in the Detroit trial project mentioned above.
- Improve signage. Signs should clearly indicate that a signal is ahead and which lane(s), if any, are for turns only.
- Add traffic lights at certain intersections, especially those that rely on only one light suspended in the air to direct all traffic.
- Build new turn lanes, especially on roads where development has added a significant amount of new traffic volume.
- Provide advance warning lights at high-speed intersections to notify motorists of pending light changes.
5) Retime Traffic Signals
Engineers can adjust the timing of traffic lights to reduce the number of red lights a driver encounters. This process of signal optimization reduces congestion, travel time, gas consumption, and driver frustration. It also helps to reduce red-light violations.
An informational report from the Institute for Transportation Engineers concluded that the process has a benefit to cost ratio of 40:1. Another study in Oakland County, Michigan showed that retiming the traffic signals had a benefit-cost ratio of 175:1 and 55:1 respectively for each of the two phases of the project.
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18 Responses to “5 Proven Ways To Stop Red-Light Running”
By Tom Kiefer on Nov 6, 2007
As a police officer with over 20 years of experience I agree wholeheartedly with these recommendations. The all red clearance time has proven to be one of the best and I have personally seen the difference it can make. Simplay adding a one second interval between all red and the subsequent green can cut accidents exponentially. MOST police really do enforce traffic laws to improve safety. As in any profession there are those that manipulate the system for some alternative motive that doesn’t necessarily have the best interests of the public in mind.
By Rob Siedenburg on Nov 6, 2007
I agree. I’ve been driving since 1961, and I’ve witnessed many accidents and near accidents at traffic lights. It’s time we took this problem seriously and did all we can to eliminate the hazards to motorists. The longer yellow light and all-red clearance are ideas whose time has come.
By Dave Perkins on Nov 7, 2007
Since the very first time I was snapped up by a traffic camera, I’ve looked into how they are used my many jurisdictions as “fund raisers”.
I work for an engineering firm that studies traffic and devises traffic planning for cities and communities so I understand traffic light timing, sequencing, etc… and it is my observation that at almost EVERY intersection where you find a traffic camera, the yellow is set to be much shorter than nearby intersections. Therefore, my idea that these are “fund raisers” is not in jest!
When a new traffic camera was set up in my city, I went out and parked in a nearby parking lot and observed for about an hour. During that time, at least a dozen vehicles were photographed that had done NOTHING wrong. They were just “snapped” and if they are like most folks, they just paid the bill and went on with life, whether they could afford it or not. And the city prospered!
The product I promote only works agains FLASH cameras. If the camera uses digital techniques in the daytime, you’ll get “snapped” but not so at night.
Another great invention, aside from avoiding these intersections, is the GPS device that tells you that you’re coming to an intersection where these cameras are located. That way, you at least KNOW and can proceed carefully.
To your SAFE travels,
Dave
By Fred Peters on Nov 8, 2007
I took a trip to Europe as a young man, and I remember noticing in Vienna that the green traffic lights would start blinking a few seconds before they turned yellow. That gave drivers plenty of warning that the light was about to turn yellow, and I would imagine that it might cut down on the number of drivers who run a red light.
By Joseph Bell on Nov 10, 2007
As A professional driver for almost three decades I can a say without reservation that some yellow light intervals at camera corners have been shortened with the install of the cameras. Just another money maker and obviously not for safety. Although I am not a traffic engineer, it does not take a rocket scientist, or a good speller to notice the change in an intersections when you travel it many time a day. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ seems to be the only thing cities are interested in, the publics safety always takes a back burner to BIG $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
The one second all four red light must work, ask any cop about the red light tickets he writes, Ill bet they are ALL UNDER TWO SECONDS, AND MOST UNDER ONE SECOND.
That statement alone should speak volumes, to those who care about lives not $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
By Ryan McCormick on Nov 12, 2007
In China they don’t even have yellow lights. Actually they don’t have lights at all. Instead they have a giant digital count-down display. The numbers count down in either a green or a red light telling you exactly when the light will change. Most are 99 seconds max, but some longer lights count down from 199. This seems like a much better system to me. You know exactly when the light will change thereby reducing frustration while waiting at a red and letting you know exactly how much time you have to make it through a green.
By Greg Utas on Nov 12, 2007
Oh, Vienna! Occasionally the green light blinking shortly before the yellow came on would be interpreted by a North American driver as a protected left turn. Yikes. The yellow and green were also on simultaneously before the red. During that time, the yellow was also on in the OTHER direction, so you’d be sitting at a red, and then the yellow would also come on, notifying you that green was imminent. Almost like a drag race sequence!
By George on Nov 12, 2007
Better education too.
You [the driver] are supposed to be watching the road. The change from green to yellow means it is time to execute on the decision to go through or stop, which you should be updating continuously as you drive down the road.
Red means you are stopped.
All direct current powered LED lighting can aid in recognition of the change from green to yellow because of the fast [millisecond] response time of LEDs.
Less time can be set aside for the change in the signals, and more time can be used as yellow & simultaneous red, without reducing green time, and intersection throughput.
This helps to build a more robust (glare shields) and more fault tolerant (longer yellow and simultaneous red) system, and should help to reduce the desire of local municipalities to implement illegal red light cameras.
By james on Nov 14, 2007
its not about this its about money we are in the usa greed is all we know forget about the people
By Bill on Nov 18, 2007
All red invervals are nothing new. That was in use in Milwaukee, WI at least as far back as 1964. It was immediately obvious that it was a good thing to do. I have not noticed any evidence to see that some people take advantage of knowing this.
By Marice on Dec 19, 2007
In the Chicago Suburbs, most, if not all, of these recommendations are done. Inside the city limits of Chicago, none of it is implemented.
You can easily see the contrast. In one block in the suburbs you can easily decide to stop or not where in the next block, when you cross into the Chicago city limits, you have to either slam on your breaks or speed through.
Driving without these safety recommendations implemented encourages reckless and aggressive driving. In Chicago, the red-light cameras have only increased revenue, not safety. Obviously, public safety is not the top priority.
By Chris Papadopoulos on Jan 3, 2008
I’m sure that traffic lights could be improved in a number of ways as you mention here.
But I think that this line of thinking is missing the root of the problem that has to do with human psychology.
Human beings aren’t robots and don’t function well with numerous amounts of signs and lights while trying to focus on traffic and pedestrians. Improving the quality of the signs is only of limited help compared to other solutions.
Instead of merely improving signs, engineering roads that function naturally without lights and signs is the optimum course of action. To me, research in solutions such as roundabouts is the direction that motorists concerned about safe intersections ought to advocate, not merely better red lights or more safety signs.
By Hubcap on Jan 3, 2008
Chris Papadopoulos,
You know I was thinking that very thing driving to work this morning. (Yeah I know I should have been thinking about DRIVING!) There are so many things we do and devices we use that were built and then the users had to adapt. Instead, designers and engineers should study the way humans intuitively perform a task and interact with a device or environment and design to that.
I recall there was a moment during the eighties where ergonomic design factors came to the fore and seemed to be the wave of the future. But it seems to have fallen by the wayside in favor of faster design-to-production schedules and fatter profits.
Someday I would like to ask a traffic engineer how he gets to work because I know he doesn’t drive.
By Amie on Feb 12, 2008
I live on a military base in Japan. They use the longer yellow light times AND the all red light method together and I never have a problem stopping in time, even in the bad weather we have so often here. As a matter of fact, in the 13 years I have lived here, I can’t remember one accident that I have seen or heard about from running a red light. I think people need to remember that traffic rules are in place to prevent accidents, not to prevent them from getting a ticket.
By Bob on Mar 27, 2008
To add to Ryan’s comment, I have been living in the Dominican Republic for a long time. We also have large countdown timers with LED’s that change from Green to Yellow to Red. These give the drivers the amount of time they have to get through green. We have seen significantly less accidents in our intersections here and less violations. Along with the timers we have regular traffic lights. It’s a shame that the local governments in the U.S. dont implement technologies that are already being used in underdeveloped countries!
By Steve on Apr 14, 2008
I agree that all traffic lights need to be coordinated so that traffic flows better. In New England, most of the new installations have road sensors so that you don’t get a red light in the middle of the night when there are no other cars in the area.
Setting ALL yellow lights to the minimum will help to standardize the wait and will help your average driver. I do disagree that longer yellows will eliminate red light running. At least in Boston there are a substantial number of drivers that will run the yellow no matter what the timing. There are many bad drivers out there and technology is not going to fix that. Most accidents are caused by the driver and not by the traffic design. Trust me, I’ve driven over a million miles in the last 30 years and people aren’t properly trained to drive anymore!