Skip to main content

Red light violations increase during summer driving season: report

The US National Coalition for Safer Roads has released new data on red-light running, which revealed an increase in the number of violations that occurred during peak periods of summer travel in 2014. According to the statistics, more than 3.7 million drivers in the United States ran a red light in 2014. A large percentage of these violations occurred during the peak summer travel weekends of Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. Red-light running incidents during each of these major summer t
May 21, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The US 5755 National Coalition for Safer Roads has released new data on red-light running, which revealed an increase in the number of violations that occurred during peak periods of summer travel in 2014.

According to the statistics, more than 3.7 million drivers in the United States ran a red light in 2014. A large percentage of these violations occurred during the peak summer travel weekends of Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day.

Red-light running incidents during each of these major summer travel periods in 2014, included: Memorial Day: 37,800 violations; Independence Day: 34,522 violations; Labor Day: 35,118 violations.

According to the data, Friday afternoons, between 1:00 – 5:00 pm, were the most dangerous times on the road – with the highest number of red-light violations recorded.

The millions of additional drivers on the roads during summer holiday periods also increases the risk of traffic collisions resulting from red-light running, distracted driving, and speeding. In order to prevent injuries and fatalities resulting from traffic collisions during the summer travel season, NCSR is sharing these statistics with the public and encouraging all drivers to practice safe driving.

"This data proves that driving over the summer holidays, when millions of people are on the road, can be very dangerous," says Melissa Wandall, President of NCSR. "By sharing these numbers with the public, we aim to influence safe driving and reduce the number of traffic collisions that occur during peak periods of travel."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Making cars safer for vulnerable road users
    June 2, 2016
    Richard Cuerden considers measures to improve the safety of vulnerable road users. The competitive nature of the car market has seen an increase in protection for those travelling inside the vehicle and this is reflected in the casualty statistics -but the same does not apply to those outside the vehicle. And with current societal trends such as ageing populations, an increasing number of pedestrians and cyclists encouraged by environmental policies, this is an area that authorities such as the European Uni
  • Managed lanes – the riddle wrapped up in an enigma
    December 15, 2014
    Managed lanes have something of a patchy track record and can pose authorities problems as well as solutions. Many authorities in the US and beyond have converted, or are converting, parts of the highway network into ‘Managed Lanes’ and charging motorists a fee to avoid the delays on the adjoining free use lanes. Some authorities have converted underused High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes into priced-managed high occupancy/toll lanes (HOT lanes) whereby the price charged can vary depending on a number of fa
  • Florida cities expand red light cameras
    January 23, 2013
    West Palm Beach is to significantly expand its red-light camera program in 2013 after commissioners approved plans to install cameras at twenty-five new intersections, bringing the number of intersections equipped to catch drivers who illegally run red lights to thirty-two. The move comes despite a recent city police report that tracked five of the existing seven red-light cameras and found crashes nearly doubled in those locations between February 2011 and January 2013, to 66 from 36. Police Chief Vince De
  • European ecoDriver project reports results
    March 17, 2016
    After over four years of work, the European ecoDriver project has released its first results. The project trials involved 170 drivers in seven countries, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and UK, both in controlled and naturalistic environments testing nine different eco-driving support systems. Despite minor variations in terms of percentage, the findings showed that overall, across all the systems, reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 have an average of 4.2 per cent with the highest