DETROIT (AP) — AAA is urging drivers and pedestrians to use caution at traffic signals due to the number of people killed by drivers running red lights, which has hit a 10 year high.
According to a AAA study in 2017, 939 people were killed by vehicles that ran red lights. Which is also 28% higher than in 2012. On average that would make 2 deaths per day in the U.S by drivers who didn’t stop for the traffic signal.
“Drivers who decide to run a red light when they could have stopped safely are making a reckless choice that puts other road users in danger,” said David Yang, executive director of AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety.
“There are more people driving more miles since the Great Recession, but that doesn’t explain why red-light deaths are increasing at a faster rate” said Brian Tefft, senior researcher for the AAA Foundation. Tefft also stated that he believes that distracted driving played a big part with the increase in deaths as well as the traffic lights not being programmed with enough time for the yellow light to transition to red.
“I wish we had a better answer than we do,” he said, adding that the data collected does not report on the different scenarios of the accidents.
