FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 2, 2021
CONTACT: Pete Daniels / pdaniels@saferoads.org / 301-442-2249 (C)
Statement of Cathy Chase, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates), On Stop on Red Week 2021
Red light running is a known killer on our roads. The annual “Stop on Red Week” campaign by the National Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR) shines a spotlight on the need to address this deadly behavior, which was responsible for more than 800 deaths and 143,000 injuries in 2019 alone.
Well-designed and well-implemented automated enforcement programs can deter red light running as well as speeding, and in the process, reduce crash deaths and injuries. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has found double-digit reductions in the rate of fatal red light running crashes in large cities with camera programs compared to those without.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) thanks our safety partners for the collaborative effort to develop the Automated Enforcement Checklist. With tens of thousands of people killed and millions more injured on our roads every year, we urge states and localities to use the Checklist together with road safety infrastructure improvements, such as those recommended by a Safe System approach, to curb this treacherous toll.
Additionally, the U.S. Senate is currently considering a transportation/infrastructure bill which provides a ready opportunity to advance proven crash avoidance technologies such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) which can help prevent or mitigate crashes caused by red light running. Yesterday, a letter to President Biden from more than 150 families of crash victims, including NCSR President Melissa Wandall, was printed in the Delaware News Journal, urging this lifesaving improvement. This “Stop on Red Week,” the Senate must listen to these families and take action to prevent future tragedies like the ones they have been forced to endure.
Advocates thanks Melissa Wandall and NCSR for their leadership to eradicate red light running, a plague on our roadways that can and must be curtailed.
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 improve road safety in the U.S. 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. @SafeRoadsNow
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