Running red lights is a huge traffic safety violation in Tucson and can cause harm to drivers who run the light and drivers who are driving safely. Just in 2020, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety* reported that 928 people were killed by crashes that happened because a reckless driver ran a red light. Over 115,000 people were injured due to drivers running red lights.
Vehicles that run red lights tend to be going well above the speed limit. A majority of these vehicles were under the assumption they would be able to make the yellow light, which is never a safe assumption. If you are a victim of a Tucson red light car accident, you deserve to be financially compensated for your injuries and damages.
Arizona Traffic Light Rules
There are three traffic light rules that Arizona has set in order for drivers to drive safely. Tucson drivers should follow these rules as they can help avoid car accidents caused by running red lights.
- Right on Red
- This rule states that in certain situations, drivers can make a right turn when the light is red. If this action is not allowed there will be a sign identifying that drivers cannot make a right on red.
- Left on Red
- This rule states that in certain situations, drivers can make a left turn when the light is red. However, this only applies to streets that are one-way streets and do not contain opposing lanes of traffic.
- Yellow Lights
- This rule states that it is not illegal to drive through a yellow light, however, the driver must be crossing the intersection before the light turns red.
Traffic Cameras & Running Red Lights
Red-light cameras have been proven to reduce the number of drivers that run red lights. The way traffic cameras work is they snap photos of vehicles that go during red lights. They take a photo of the front and back of the vehicle in order to administer a red light violation ticket.
These traffic cameras do not violate any privacy laws as driving is a regulated activity that licensed drivers consent to. In Arizona, red light camera citations are viewed as the same if a police officer issued the citation. Some dangerous Tucson intersections where running red lights is a common cause of crashes are:
- Golf Links Road and Kolb Road
- 22nd Street and Kolb Road
- North Alvernon Way and East Grant Road
- Grant Road and Swan Road
- East Broadway Boulevard and South Wilmot Way
- South Kino Parkway and East 36th Street
- North Oracle and West Grant
Unfortunately, back in 2015, the city of Tuscon asked the public if they wanted red light cameras and received an overwhelming ‘no’ came back, and Prop 201 was passed to deactivate all red-light cameras in 2016.
The Tucson Department of Transportation has discovered other ways to try to reduce the number of accidents caused by running red lights. They decided to retime all of the traffic lights on high traffic streets so that if you drove the speed limit you would have more of a chance of hitting all green lights. Unfortunately, there is no data that shows a significant increase or decrease in car accidents caused by a red-light runner.
Another tactic they tried was installing flashing yellow arrows at light signals for left-turning drivers. They did see a decrease in left-turn car accidents since before it showed drivers a green traffic signal. The goal was to let left-turning drivers pay attention and proceed with caution and not just run the light.
* Source: IIHS