01.26.2009 5:46 pm
Ten most dangerous red light runners of 2008
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Police departments across the area have compiled video of some pretty startling red light running violations. The violations were caught on tape by red light cameras. They show drivers charging into intersections without paying a bit of attention to the red. One hits a man. Another hits a school bus.
No matter how you feel about red light cameras, most of you will probably agree that these violations are alarming. To read the question and answers about red light cameras sent by Hazelwood Police Chief Carl Wolf, click-here.
Keep the red light camera’s. These people need to be ticketed or arrested. And if they kill someone they need to be held accountable for their actions. Camera’s will help do just that.
I wish every single person that gets on these blogs and whines about how this is just a money maker could/would watch this. I DON’T CARE if a city makes money on it. If you run a light, you deserve the ticket. There is no doubt in my mind these cameras help make intersections safer.
This Video is Scary as Hell. My wife and I got T-Boned two years ago and it is a BIG problem. I wish we had the Red Light Camera back then and we would NOT have had any questions about who was at fault. IF YOU DO NOT RUN A RED LIGHT YOU HAVE NO PROBLEM. I SUPPORT the cameras!!!
Shocking video but it is not surprising. My husband and I travel through two of those intersections regularly and we have both seen people just go right through the red lights and we have seen wrecks. The school bus videos are the most important ones. I hope the guy who hit the bus in the city went to jail!
Let me share a personal experience. The mail brought me a ticket alleging I ran a red light in St. Louis City. I have always considered myself a very careful driver and I was pretty sore so I went to court because I could not believe I would run a red light.
At court they had a computer and we reviewed the video - yes, there is video as well as a still photo. There I was on video going right through a red light on Grand Avenue. Not even yellow at any point. I felt very sheepish and I paid my fine.
Paying the fine did not bother me so much as the realization I was not paying attention and was probably talking on my cellular phone. I deserved the ticket. I paid it. I got off cheap because the result of running the red could have been tragic.
When my daughter emailed me this video of the bus being struck in the city, it gave me a chill because while I view myself as a safe driver, I realize any of us could be inattentive. My grandchildren could have been on that bus. So my conclusion is that if the cameras help modify bad driving habits they are a good thing.
Looks like the camera’s didn’t stop this from happening at all.
Number 2 wasen’t even a red light, that light was yellow officer!!! I thik the pedestrian gets the ticket there.
Just let me say that I am glad the camera is catching these bad drivers. I hope they do learn from theyre mistakes which would be the best thing to happen for all of us. St. louis has some of the worse drivers.
I agree with the Bard about #2. The pedestrian is at fault and should have been able to see the car coming and wait instead of darting out right in front of it. I don’t think the driver of the first car should be ticketed at all. The 2nd car is the one that should be ticketed.
killbomb and Bard, the point is that this is caught on video so there is no question about what happened - and the SECOND driver ran the reed light in video Number 2. The presence of red light cameras makes drivers modify their bad habits and be more cautious. That is why I find the cameras to be a good thing.