Red Light Runners Watch Out

According to an article in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, as of this past Tuesday night the city of Millington has become the latest Tennessee city to approve using Red Light Cameras (RLC) to help reduce intersection accidents.

Intersection and intersection-related crashes consistently make up a high proportion of total fatal crashes, up to 23 percent. More than 50 percent of the combined fatal and injury crashes occur at intersections. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005 alone, nearly 9,200 people died and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes which account for approximately 40-45 percent of all crashes. According to 2005 data from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, crashes caused by red light running (RLR) resulted in an estimated 805 fatalities.

Based on national data, the typical red light runner (RLR) is younger, is driving alone, has no children, and is in a rush to work or school in the morning hours on weekdays.  If a parent, the RLR most likely has children less than 20-years-old, is employed in jobs requiring less education (i.e., blue collar, lower technology), or is unemployed. The RLR is more than two miles from home and is more likely to have been ticketed for red light running in the past. RLR is a dangerous form of aggressive driving. Based on self-reported behavioral surveys, RLR is a result of people wanting to save time. However, several factors can lead to RLR such as impatient and inattentive drivers, improperly timed traffic signals, lack of enforcement efforts and the attitude that no harm will come from running a red light.

Additional Program Efforts

In addition to the RLCs the city should also hold press conferences to announce the RLC program and educate drivers on the statistics of injuries and deaths due to RLR and speeding. Accompanying the public announcement they should encourage radio and TV stations to warn people of the danger of RLR and educate them on the new RLC system. Radio stations can do live broadcasts from high-crash intersections in town. Stations can give away promotional items in support of the goal of reducing injuries and deaths at intersections. Strict and effective enforcement by local police at all intersections would also help solve this problem.

Pedestrian safety is also an important issue related to intersection crashes. Approximately one out of five accidents at signalized intersections involve a turning vehicle hitting a pedestrian. The split between left-turning and right-turning accidents is about 60/40.  Furthermore, the proportion of accidents involving pedestrians and left-turning vehicles varies from 17 to 32 percent of all pedestrian accidents at the intersection. Thus, left-turning movements at signalized intersections represent a considerable safety problem to pedestrians.

In Millington there was one dissenting Alderman who says he is not convinced that the data shows that the cameras are effective. Economic analysis showed that RLCs saved society $39,000 to $50,000 annually at each intersection where they are installed. (The costs considered include: hospital bills, property damage to vehicles, insurance expenses, value of lost quality of life, and other costs.) Analysis of data in the most comprehensive study to date (Safety Evaluation of Red-Light Cameras (FHWA-HRT-05-048, April 2005)) from seven jurisdictions (Baltimore; Charlotte; El Cajon, CA; Howard County, MD; Montgomery County, MD; San Diego; San Francisco) at 132 intersections using RLCs found:

* 25% decrease of total right-angle crashes

* 16% decrease of injury right-angle crashes

* 15% increase of total rear-end crashes

* 24% increase of injury rear-end crashes

If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville intersection collision contact our experienced Nashville automobile accident attorneys at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies. We offer a free consultation to victims of Tennessee automobile accidents as well as the families of the victims.

Practice Intersection Safety

I often blog about the danger of intersections and a story from Memphis TV station WMCTV brings this problem into clear focus. According to studies conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005 alone, nearly 9,200 people died and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes-approximately 40-45 percent of all collisions. The studies report that the two main causes of collisions at intersections is red light running (RLR) and speeding through the intersection.

The intersection crash in Memphis this past week occurred on a rainy morning as an ambulance was making a non-emergency run, and as it entered the intersection of Winchester and Brooks Road a pick-up truck traveling at a high rate of speed smashed into it and sent it skidding over a hundred feet and caused it the roll over. Fortunately, for all involved, the patient, two paramedics and the driver of the pick-up truck not seriously injured.

An intersection is a planned point of conflict in the roadway system. With different crossing and entering movements by both drivers and pedestrians, an intersection is one of the most complex traffic situations that motorists encounter. Dangers are compounded when we add the element of speeding motorists who disregard traffic controls.

In an effort to address this problem in Memphis the leadership has instituted a program of digital camera enforcement of certain intersections with identifiable problems. Red light running (RLR) is a dangerous form of aggressive driving. Based on self-reported behavioral surveys, RLR is a result of people wanting to save time. However, several factors can lead to RLR such as impatient and inattentive drivers, improperly timed traffic signals, lack of enforcement efforts and the attitude that no harm will come from running a red light.

The jury is still out on whether or not the use of this technology gives a good return on investment. Recent studies show the following results:

*25% decrease of total right-angle crashes

*16% decrease of injury right-angle crashes

*15% increase of total rear-end crashes

*24% increase of injury rear-end crashes

The increase in rear-end collisions is problematical for the authorities and the increase in injury related rear-end collisions can be addressed in time, as drivers become used to the camera systems and learn to keep from following too close as they enter intersections. These issues can and should be addressed with education and public service announcements.

If you or a loved one is injured in a Nashville intersection collision contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies

Cameras Reduce Intersection Deaths and Injuries

Starting tomorrow Memphis is joining the 21^st Century when it comes to reducing intersection deaths and injuries and the citizens are going to be howling mad. Memphis, like many cities around the country has decided to experiment with digital camera systems that are intended to identify drivers who run red lights and speed through intersections. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005 alone, nearly 9,200 people died and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes-approximately 40-45 percent of all crashes. The two main factors of these accidents are those who speed through intersections and those who run red lights. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association red light running crashes are responsible for approximately 260,000 injuries and 750 fatalities annually.

According to an article in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal reports that at one intersection in Memphis there were 386 intersection collisions during a three-year period. The article goes on to estimate that the cameras will generate 240,000 tickets amounting to $9.7 million in revenue with approximately $3.1 million going to the city. My blogs have been following the installation of these devices in Oak Ridge Tennessee and it appears that the majority of complaints are from people who don’t like to get tickets when they run red lights or speed through intersections.

An article on the WHBQ TV website quotes Germantown City Administrator Patrick Lawton as reporting that after having the cameras for over ten years, “What we’ve seen is a reduction of the head-on collisions, and the T-bone type collisions and those are more of the serious accidents in nature.” Research from around the world matches the Germantown results. Lives are saved and millions of dollars in property damages are prevented.

If you are the victim of a Nashville or Tennessee automobile accident we urge you to contact our Nashville car accident attorneys today for a free consultation. When you hire an auto accident attorney from Phillip Miller & Associates, you’re getting a qualified and dedicated lawyer.

Saves Lives and Reduces Injuries

There’s a new Sheriff in town and the new sheriff’s name is Red Flex Inc. a private contractor with the city that has installed, at their own expense, state of the art digital camera systems at several key intersections. As noted in an segment on Knoxville TV station WATE channel 6, ” The cameras have been pumping out thousands of citations since the first ones went online over the summer.”

Most of the Oak Ridger’s complaints center around the amount of the money generated by the cameras.  Red Flex has created a crackerjack system of identifying speeders and red light runners, distributing tickets and collecting the fines which it splits with the city. The main purpose of the system is to reduce deaths and serious injuries. Statistic from other cities around the world show that deaths and serious injuries are greatly reduced by the use of this technology.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005 alone, nearly 9,200 people died and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes-approximately 40-45 percent of all crashes. The two main factors of these accidents is those who speed through intersections and those who run red lights. This is significant to say the least. And the proof will take months to a year before the accident reduction statistics are in but my hat is off to the Oak Ridge representatives for showing far thinking leadership in trying to protect their citizen’s lives and property.

If you or a loved one is injured by a speeder or red light runner contact the experienced Nashville injury lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates to find out about your right sand remedies.

Avoid Distractions Save Lives

As an experienced Nashville automobile accident lawyer I hear a report like the one on Jackson, Tennessee station WBBJ TV yesterday and I just have to shake my head and sigh. A mother and father driving with their two year old in the backseat of their vehicle and the driver fails to yield the stop sign at an intersection and rams into a police car that had the right of way.  For those familiar with my blog topics you know that I have warned continually about the dangers posed by intersections. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2005 alone, nearly 9,200 people died and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes-approximately 40-45 percent of all crashes. This is significant to say the least.

I have to ask myself why did this driver, with a baby in the vehicle ignore the stop sign and drive directly out into the path of oncoming traffic? My first thought is that the driver was obviously not paying attention to what he/she was doing and must have been distracted. Nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event.  Primary causes of driver inattention are distracting activities, such as cell phone use, and drowsiness.

We will probably never know the reason that this driver was distracted but we hope and pray that s/he will learn the lesson of due care– always focus on the road in the future. The two adults and the police officer were taken by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries and the 2 year old, who was safely buckled into a car safety seat was unhurt.

If you or a loved on is injured in a Nashville car accident by a distracted driver call on the experienced Nashville auto accident lawyers at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.

http://www.wbbjtv.com/localnews.html

As an experienced Tennessee car accident attorney I am sometimes left wondering how certain drivers passed their drivers license tests. I have taught my two year-old nephew to watch the traffic signals and he can tell when a light is red and when a light is green. Whenever we are together he watches like a hawk and tells me just when to stop and when to go. This isn’t rocket science but some Nashville drivers, more than you would think, can’t seem to get it right.

A case in point; Nashville ABC TV affiliate station News2 reported an incident today in which the intersection light was blinking red for one direction and yellow for another. A Nashville Metro Police Officer was driving along into a blinking yellow light. As he entered the intersection another vehicle simply ignored the blinking red light and T-Boned the police car trapping the officer inside. He had to be cut out of the vehicle. The police officer got a trip to the hospital and the red light runner got a citation for failure to yield.

This driver’s odyssey through the system is just beginning. The citation will cost somewhere around a thousand dollars and either his insurance will be canceled or his premiums will shoot through the roof. Then come the lawsuits, Metro will seek compensation for a totaled patrol car and the officer will then seek damages for his injuries. All of this grief follows because the guy didn’t stop at a blinking red light.

In 2008, there were 37,261 fatalities on our Nation’s roadways. Of these, 7,772 (20.8% of total fatalities) were intersection or intersection related. An intersection is a planned point of conflict in the roadway system. With different crossing and entering movements by both drivers and pedestrians, an intersection is one of the most complex traffic situations that motorists encounter. Dangers are compounded when we add the element of speeding motorists who disregard traffic controls. Despite improved intersection design and more sophisticated applications of traffic engineering measures, the annual toll of human loss due to motor vehicle crashes has not substantially changed in more than 25 years.

In Tennessee the traffic signal law is very clear. When the light is flashing red you must come to a complete stop, the same as a stop sign, look both ways, yield to traffic and pedestrians and proceed when it is safe to do so. When you come to a yellow light slow down and proceed with caution through the intersection.

If you or a loved on is injured by a driver who runs a red light call our experienced Nashville car accident attorneys

Red Light Means Stop

and find out about your rights and rememdies.