Traffic signals and signs are in place for a reason—to help keep our roads safer for everyone who travels on them. When drivers engage in driving habits that include ignoring important safety signals—like stop lights—they endanger everyone with whom they share the road. Drivers who run red lights are dangerous drivers, and if you have suffered an injury caused by someone running a stop light, you need experienced legal counsel immediately.
Aggressive Driving: Running Red Lights
Running red lights is a form of aggressive driving. If you drive—and even if you don’t—you know that a red traffic light means stop. It’s the first thing you learn in driver’s education, and you’re not likely to forget it anytime soon. Running red lights is one type of aggressive driving, but there are also many others:
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Pushing yellow lights
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Speeding
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Tailgating
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Changing lanes frequently or erratically
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Expressing frustration or anger to other drivers (including the use of obscene language and/or gestures)
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Using one’s high beams to push another driver out of the way
Any of these signs of aggressive driving is dangerous, but running red lights and speeding are among the most dangerous.
Getting in the Habit
Unfortunately, drivers sometimes make it a habit to push and even run red lights. For example, if a driver knows the timing of the stoplights in the area, he or she may simply allow himself or herself the extra two seconds after a light’s turned red (and before oncoming traffic’s lights have turned green) to continue moving through the intersection. This is an extremely dangerous habit. Once a driver has gotten into the habit of extending stoplight signals for his or her own purposes, it’s very easy to become complacent and to continue pushing the limit further and further out. Failing to stop safely and appropriately for red lights is a very dangerous habit that can prove fatal.
Leading Cause of Crashes
The National Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR) shares that running red lights is the leading cause of crashes in urban areas (based on information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety). In fact, more than 700 people per year (between the years of 2011 and 2015) died in accidents caused by drivers who ran red lights. Running red lights can prove to be a deadly habit.
If a Driver Who Ran a Red Light Injured You, You Need an Experienced Connecticut Car Accident Lawyer
Drivers who fail to follow the rules of the road, make driving more dangerous for everyone. Drivers who make running red lights a habit are among the deadliest drivers on our roads. If a driver running a red light has left you or someone you care about injured—or worse—seek experienced legal counsel. The dedicated legal team at Leighton, Katz & Drapeau has been serving Connecticut since 1989, and we’re here to help. Your claim is far too important to leave to chance, so please contact or call us at 860-875-7000 today.
