I see at least one or two drivers blow right through a red light every day. It’s an epidemic, yet people don’t want to do much about it. There are whispers of using cameras to catch red light runners, but that will be a long legal battle.
In the meantime, you should just be alert at every intersection, especially the Tampa Police Department’s top ten crash areas within the last 90 days.
I created a Community Walk map of Tampa’s high crash areas to give a better visual of the spots where you should be extra careful. Unfortunately, I’m not computer-literate enough to make it update automatically, so the info is only good as of Wednesday morning.
Jim Johnson
3 years ago
I agree that running red lights has become almost accepted. That is why Tampa Bay intersections now have longer periods where the light is red in all directions.
However, there are problems with cameras. Because the companies that run the camera systems get a piece of the action, cameras are not always placed at dangerous intersections, but at intersections that have a greater profit potential.
Finally, the TPD data do not include the cause of the crash as being red light running. To the contrary, many of these intersections are among the highest traffic intersections — meaning most of the crashes are probably fender benders occurring during rush hour. It may be a bit misleading to list these intersections in a post about red light running.
But your warning to be alert at every intersection is good advice that all readers should take to heart.
John
3 years ago
You know what I want to see? The implementation of more traffic circles in the area (Hillsborough, Pinellas, etc).
People complained and complained and complained about Clearwater Beach’s traffic circle and yet the big problem with the circle (besides the fountain that was in place at the time) was the fact drivers had to drive responsibly.
You can’t always insert traffic circles at intersections on busy roads (I don’t expect them on Dale Maybry, US 19, McMullen Booth or Belcher roads and the like) but there are a lot of smaller intersections where 4 way stops and stoplights are in place almost needlessly. Yeah, traffic needs to be slowed — and yet with how careless drivers are in the area, it tends not to be.
Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog » Blog Archive » how to stop the crashing
2 years ago
[...] talked before about crashes at intersections (we need to update our map of Tampa’s High Crash Locations), and Dave Balut recently [...]