Red Light Running - A Policy Review

There are more than 100,000 red light running crashes per year in the U.S., resulting in some 90,000 people injured and 1,000 people killed. More than half of red light running-related fatalities are pedestrians and occupants in other vehicles who are hit by red light runners. Texas is a leading state in red light running fatalities. From 1992 to 1998, Texas ranked second in the number of red light running fatalities, with 11 percent of the national total. Even after relating the numbers to population, Texas ranked very high-fourth place nationwide-with a rate of 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 people in that period. The cost of red light running injuries and fatalities in Texas is between 1.4 and 3.0 billion dollars per year. This report includes an assessment of factors affecting red light running, a review of red light running trends in the U.S. and in Texas, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of strategies to deal with the problem, including engineering countermeasures, automated enforcement, and educational and awareness programs. The report also includes a series of policy recommendations that, together, should provide useful guidance to transportation officials, legislators, and law enforcement agencies. The recommendations include strategies to define measurable goals and objectives, as well as guidelines for the implementation of engineering countermeasures, improved enforcement, enabling legislation, and educational and public awareness programs. Following similar findings in the literature, the report recommends documenting the extent of the red light running problem and quantifying the impact of red light running crashes, injuries, and fatalities, both in statistical terms and in dollar terms, as a first step in the identification of appropriate solution strategies. The process should then continue with the evaluation and implementation of engineering countermeasures followed, as needed, by the evaluation and implementation of improved enforcement.