Media Contact: Shane Austin
saustin@saferoads.org
202-425-2776
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement of Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, on National Stop on Red Week 2024
(Washington, D.C.-August 2, 2024) This first full week of August is “National Stop on Red Week,” a reminder for all drivers to obey all traffic lights. More than 1,272 people were killed in crashes that involved red light running in 2022, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Half of those killed were pedestrians, bicyclists and people in other vehicles hit by a driver running a red light. That same year, an estimated 107,000 people were injured in red light running crashes.
Advocates commends National Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR) President Melissa Wandall for her continued leadership to raise awareness about the dangers posed by red light running and the need to advance proven solutions to end its deadly occurrence.
Advocates, in partnership with other safety organizations, developed the Automated Enforcement (AE) Checklist. It provides commonsense ways to augment traditional enforcement to deter dangerous driving behaviors, reduce speeding, and curb red light running crashes, fatalities and injuries. Multiple studies have found significant reductions in red light violations and crashes when cameras are in use. These studies also show crash rates rise when AE programs are stopped.
Congress authorized certain federal funds for the use of AE in work and school zones as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Pub. L. 117-58). We urge Congress to expand this authorization so that states can use this verified technology more broadly as part of their comprehensive traffic safety toolkits.
The IIJA also required the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to issue minimum performance standards for automatic emergency braking (AEB) for new cars and heavy trucks, which are proven to reduce crashes and can mitigate or prevent collisions caused by red light running. The DOT recently finalized a rule that mandates AEB with pedestrian detection in both light and dark lighting conditions on new passenger vehicles by 2029. An effort to reconsider the rule should be rejected by DOT. A similar rule for heavy trucks is overdue and should be issued to help reduce the nearly 6,000 fatalities and over 160,000 injuries resulting from crashes involving large trucks in 2022.
Red light running crashes are 100 percent preventable. This “National Stop on Red Week” we remind every driver to stay alert and focused on the driving task without distraction, obey speed limits, come to a complete stop at red lights and stop signs, and make sure every passenger in the vehicle is properly restrained.
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About Advocates
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America’s roads safer. Advocates’ mission is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and contain costs.