Stop Red Light Running Awareness Week

Even Carsyn knows that red means stop. If a three year-old knows that, licensed drivers should, right?!? I thought so!

This Thanksgiving week, November 18th-24th, is Daviess County Stop Red Light Running Awareness Week. With the beginning of the holiday season here, what better time than now to promote awareness of the dangers of red light running and to crack down on drivers who disregard traffic signals.

Here is some important information from GRADD regarding running red lights:

- Red light running is 100% preventable.

- The time saved by avoiding a red light - an average of 47 seconds - IS NOT worth the potential cost in human lives.

- Red light runnning is dangerous and a costly national problem. More than one million automobile crashes occur at intersections each year, resulting in more than 50,000 injuries and more than 1,000 deaths. In addition, red light running costs the public an estimated $7 billion per year in lost wages, medical bills and damages.

- In Owensboro, red light running is reported as a leading contributing factor to crashes reported as high accident locations.

- Research by the American Trauma Society and Federal Highway Administration shows that one of three Americans has been injured or knows someone injured or killed in a red light running crash.

- A crash caused by a driver who runs a red light can have the same results as a crash caused by a drunk driver -serious injury of death.

- Safety is a shared responsibility. The Federal Highway Administration is responsible for building and maintaining safe roads and automakers are responsible for ensuring the vehicles are safe for the occupants. But DRIVERS must share the responsibility by making smart decisions on the road.

DRIVE SAFELY this Holiday Season!