Car Safety: Running Red Lights

Another hazardous phenomenon that has gotten much, much worse over the last decade is running red lights. Years ago, if people saw a yellow light they would stop, as it would immediately change to red and the risk of a collision was great. But as cities began to use delayed yellow-to-red signals, people began interpreting a yellow light not as “slow down because the light will soon turn red” but as “if you hurry, you’ve still got several seconds before the light turns red”. If you live in a large or medium-sized city, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, as you’ve no doubt experienced it many times. Car safety experts aren’t exactly sure why the problem has gotten so much worse in the past few years, as delayed signals have been around for decades, but it definitely has. At some monitored intersections, people are regularly observed going through a red light as much as seven seconds after the light changed completely from yellow to red. Intersections are very dangerous places to begin with, and this trend only makes them much more dangerous. Don’t be the victim of a red light runner. When you’re stopped at a light and it turns green, make very sure that nothing is coming before pulling out into the intersection. Don’t just take off because the light is green. Left turns, whether at intersections or not, are also a big problem when it comes to car safety. If you’re at an intersection that has a left turn signal, be very careful when it turns yellow or changes from a green arrow to an unprotected green signal. It’s best to only turn left when you’ve got the green arrow, but if you’re going to turn on a yellow arrow or an unprotected green, make absolutely sure that you’ve got time. Oncoming traffic moves fast and you could be setting yourself up for a serious collision. This is especially true if you’ve got a car that’s experiencing hesitation problems.