Consequences of Running Red Lights

Did you run red lights a few times while in a hurry to reach the office, and nobody was looking?

While many drivers do this, running red lights is dangerous for the violating driver and pedestrians on the road. Although it’s a seemingly simple traffic violation, it may lead to deadly car accidents wherein the violator receives penalties.

This post explains the consequences of running red lights and why you must always avoid them.

Why Drivers Run Red Lights

There are different reasons why drivers don’t stop at a red traffic light, such as:

• Miscalculating the yellow light and are unable to stop on time.
• Not realizing the light turning red because of certain factors, like drunken or distracted driving. Moreover, bad weather conditions can also make it difficult to see the traffic lights.
• Overspeeding, thus making it difficult to stop the car at the right spot.
• They were intentionally running red lights because they were in a hurry, like running late at work.
• Intentionally running red lights for no reason.

Drivers may use these reasons as excuses for committing this traffic light violation. However, none of these can justify running red lights because of the dangers they can cause to others on the road.

Call a Burbank auto accident attorney to protect your rights if a red light violator hits you.

Consequences of Running Red Lights

These significant consequences from running red lights make the violation completely unjustifiable:

1. Serious Road Accidents

Running red lights pushes you to increase your speed while crossing the intersection to avoid incoming vehicles from the green light zone. The problem is that cars from that area are also speeding up to avoid the red light.

A collision involving high-speed vehicles always causes devastating results, like severe injuries, significant car damage, and death.

Did you know that in 2019, 846 people died after being hit by red-light violators, and half were pedestrians and bicyclists? This data proves that you may also hit other people on the road aside from crashing into a car.

2. Legal Liabilities

It is likely for red light violators to become automatically liable for car accidents. According to California’s Pure Comparative law, you are likely to get a higher liability than the other party because of breaching the duty of care.

Remember that each driver has a duty of care for other drivers and pedestrians on the road. Violating such a duty makes you liable for negligence.

For example, you ran a red light in an intersection and another car from the green light area. You may be liable for injuries and damages because the accident wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t commit the violation.

These legal liabilities lead you toward these possible outcomes:

• Your car insurance provider will have to cover the other party’s medical treatment cost, lost wages, and car repair. You will have to pay the remaining amount if your car insurance reaches its limit.
• You may lose your car insurance if you get involved in two or more accidents within three years. In California, driving without insurance is illegal.
• You also risk facing critical legal penalties like criminal charges and driver’s license revocation.

Hire an Auto Accident Lawyer in Burbank to Defend Your Right After Running Red Lights

Running red lights is a dangerous action you should never commit and may lead to a devastating accident and legally troublesome repercussions.

However, you still have the right to defend yourself in court and possibly decrease your penalties. It is better to hire a Burbank auto accident attorney to represent you instead of attempting to do it yourself.