New data shows deaths nationwide resulting from drivers running a red light are on the rise, but the trend is not apparent in the First State.
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, red light crash deaths jumped 30 percent in the US between 2012 and 2017 with a ten-year high 939 fatalities in 2017.
But AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman Ken Grant says locally the data has been fairly consistent following an uptick in 2008 when twelve people died in Delaware red light crashes.
“2008 was kind of an outlier with those numbers, but since then we’re seeing fairly consistently four to five fatalities a year, and that’s caused by people running red lights,” said Grant.
Grant points out all of these deaths are preventable.
“Distracted driving is a huge factor in this as well as your typical speeding—people just in a hurry,” he said.
The AAA data shows 37 people were killed in Delaware in a red light crash between 2008 and 2017. About 7,800 died nationally during the same time period.
The data also shows about 65 percent of the time the victim of a red light crash is not the driver.
Grant urges drivers to not drink and drive or text and drive.
