Auto Club Names Top Intersections for Red Light Running in LA County

11 October 2000

Auto Club Names Top Intersections for Red Light Running in Los Angeles County; Auto Club Joins National ``Stop on Red'' Campaign to Reduce a Leading Cause of Traffic Crashes

    LOS ANGELES--Oct. 10, 2000--For the second year in a row, Pasadena Avenue and Walnut Street in Pasadena is the most dangerous intersection in Los Angeles County for red-light running collisions, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.
    The Auto Club has named three intersections in Los Angeles County as the worst red-light running locations (see list below) as part of National Stop on Red Week taking place this week. The goal is to educate the public about the dangers of red-light running.
    "Drivers who run red lights endanger everybody on the road and significantly increase the number of traffic collisions," said Arline Dillman, Ph.D., the Auto Club's traffic safety manager. "Anyone who thinks they are too busy to wait for a red light is not thinking clearly."
    The intersection of Pasadena Avenue and Walnut Street had 15 collisions in 1999 caused by red-light running, fewer than its 1998 total of 18 red-light running collisions.
    The highest number of red-light running crashes in Southern California tend to be at or near freeway entrances and exits, according to Auto Club research.
    Two of the three intersections in Los Angeles County with the highest number of red-light crashes -- Pasadena Avenue and Walnut Street in Pasadena, and Brand Boulevard and Goode Avenue in Glendale -- are both located adjacent to freeway entrances or exits.
    "Motorists could be taking on a `freeway driving' mentality before they actually reach the freeway, or keep driving like they're on the freeway when they are exiting," Dillman said. "Drivers have to be able to quickly adapt to new conditions, and too many aren't paying attention."
    The Auto Club supports numerous law enforcement and traffic engineering efforts to reduce the number of red-light runners on the road. These techniques include special red-light enforcement patrols and redesign or fine-tuning of intersections including changing the timing of lights or constructing underpasses in place of intersections.
    Disregarding traffic controls is a leading cause of vehicle collisions in urban areas of the United States, accounting for 22 percent of all crashes, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The economic impact of these crashes is estimated at $7 billion each year in medical costs, time off work, insurance hikes and property damage, according to the institute.


               WORST RED LIGHT RUNNING INTERSECTIONS IN
                          LOS ANGELES COUNTY

    The following intersections in Los Angeles County had the highest
number of injury collisions in 1999 caused by drivers who ran red
lights:

1. Pasadena Avenue and Walnut Street, Pasadena, 15 crashes (last year
ranked No. 1 with 18 crashes)

2. Huntington Drive and Sunset Boulevard, Arcadia, 13 crashes (last
year ranked No. 3 with 11 crashes)

3. Brand Boulevard and Goode Avenue, Glendale, 12 crashes (not in top
5 last year)

Source: California Highway Patrol