CITRUS HEIGHTS, Calif. — Have you ever run a red light? You are not supposed to. It's against the law but many people continue to run the red and put people in danger.
To show the dangers of running red lights, the Citrus Heights Police Department released a video montage of crashes and near-crashes caused by drivers not stopping.
"It's extremely dangerous to run a red light at any time," said Lt. Kris Frey with the Citrus Heights Police.
The crashes are over the span of two years and are from eight different intersections. Frey said this video is part of a larger campaign to bring awareness to traffic safety.
"We decided red light violations were something that we wanted to get message out there to our citizens," Frey explained, "and the goal there was to create conversation on our social media post to get people aware of the dangers of running red lights."
ABC10 asked people on Facebook, if they ever had a close call because of a red light runner?
Jackson Chung said, "Didn't happen to me, but for me I always look left and right first even it turns green. That is why every once in a while someone would horn me for not step on the gas right away when it turns green. Well, I don't get upset, just smile and drive the way I think is safe. My kids say I drive like an old man."
Sean Richardson said, "I always look both ways just in case. As a motorcycle rider , you become a very defensive driver, at least I did."
Jill Jedrzejewski Karpel said, "sitting at my green light waiting for everyone to finish running their red is so common here."
Police also deal with distracted drivers running the red light often.
"It happens to us not only on patrols but personal when we are driving around," Frey said. "We would suggest and hope that everyone driving out there would take that extra second to look both ways before you enter the intersection."
Even though these videos show the worst of what can happen, Citrus Heights Police say red light cameras are working well to keep you safe.
"As a matter of fact, it's quite the contrary we are noticing a significant decrease in our collisions at our red light intersections," Frey said.
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