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10 Reasons to Stop on Red When Driving


stop on red

National Coalition for Safer Roads Promotes the Dangers of Red-Light Running During National Stop on Red Week, August 2-8

WASHINGTON -- July 29, 2015: Next Sunday, August 2nd, marks the beginning of National Stop on Red Week, a week sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration that aims to educate drivers about the dangers of red-light running and reduce the number and severity of crashes.

To spread the word, National Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR) is sharing U.S. red-light running statistics to help others understand the dangers of reckless driving. Here are the Top 10 Reasons to Stop on Red, which serve as a key component in NCSR's Stop on Red Week 2015 activities. These include:

  1. Red-light running is dangerous.
  2. Between 2004-2013, an estimated 7,799 people were killed from red-light running incidents.
  3. The cost to society of all crashes exceeds $230 billion annually.
  4. One in three Americans know someone who has been injured or killed in a red-light running crash.
  5. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children age 4 and the second leading cause of death for children age 3 and 5-14.
  6. About half of the deaths in red-light running crashes are pedestrians, bicyclists and occupants in other vehicles that are hit by the red-light runners.
  7. In 2013, more than 697 people were killed and an estimated 127,000 were injured in crashes that involved red-light running.
  8. Motorists in urban areas are more likely to be injured in crashes involving red-light running than in any other type of crash.
  9. Red-light runners are more than three times as likely as other drivers to have multiple speeding convictions on their driver records.
  10. More than 36 percent of drivers continue to run red-lights and take risks, despite the fact that 55 percent of the participants said it is a very serious threat and 73 percent acknowledged that running red-lights is unacceptable.
"Red-light running is dangerous and all too often deadly," said Melissa Wandall, traffic safety advocate and NCSR President. "It is preventable, and we are doing everything we can to put an end to it and protect the safety of others."

To further emphasize the dangers of red-light running during Stop on Red Week 2015, NCSR is launching an interactive map on Wednesday, August 5th, which showcases the number of traffic fatalities caused by red-light running across the United States from 2004-2013. The fatalities will be mapped to the city, state, and intersection where someone's life was taken by a collision involving red-light running.

With release of the map, NCSR hopes to mobilize others across the nation to share the map on social media, change their profile pictures to the Stop on Red icon and pledge to Stop on Red by signing the petition. They are also encouraging people to show their support via social media using the hashtag #StoponRed2015.

For more information about NCSR's Stop on Red Week daily activities and ways you can get involved, visit StopOnRedWeek.