Crash test video shows consequences of running a red light
Fatalities caused by red light runners are up 17% since 2012, according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. To drive the point home, IIHS used its crash testing facility to reenact an actual crash that occurred between a 2010 Ford F-150 pickup and a 2007 Chrysler Sebring sedan.
Fatalities caused by red light runners are up 17 percent since 2012, according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
It found that 811 were killed in 2016, the last year data is available for, compared to 696 in 2012. More than half of those who died were either pedestrians, cyclists or passengers in the vehicles that were hit by the red light runner.
To drive the point home in a dramatic fashion, IIHS used its crash testing facility to reenact an actual crash that occurred between a 2010 Ford F-150 pickup and a 2007 Chrysler Sebring sedan.
IIHS said that an earlier study found that fatalities in these types of accidents increased by 30 percent in cities that removed red light camera enforcement. Along with AAA, the National Safety Council and the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the institute promoting the technology's use in a responsible manner clearly focused on safety rather than generating revenue for locall governments.
"We developed the guidelines to help communities avoid the problems that have undermined programs in the past," says IIHS President David Harkey. "We know turning off cameras results in more crashes, injuries and deaths, so it's important that camera programs succeed."