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Where Red Means Stop, Every Day

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By TOM JACKSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 6, 2008

PORT RICHEY - Today marks the halfway point in "Stop On Red Week," a national summons to perform appropriately in the presence of traffic control devices. In a perfect world, this would be as noteworthy as "National Remember to Breathe Week."

But the world is flawed, even in the home of the brave, leaving coalitions of citizens to align with federated interested groups to promote an awareness of a civic obligation that ought to be unerringly followed without hectoring, nudging or stretches of calendar staked out to highlight the fact that people often don't do what ought to come as naturally as, well, breathing.

Thus: Stop On Red Week. Never mind that two principal sponsors behind the week, and the ongoing campaign, manufacture and operate automatic traffic monitoring systems. Big Tobacco feeds money to stop-smoking organizations and nobody seems to have a problem with that.

Red-light scofflaws are everywhere. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 20 percent of drivers confess having blown through a stop light in the last 10 intersections. Small wonder that, according to the same survey, 96 percent of us worry about being bashed by a red-light runner.

Will That Be Beef Or Chicken?

Red-light running kills (887 fatalities in 2006, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety), maims (144,000 injuries) and destroys property (171,000 crashes) at an annual cost to the public exceeding $14 billion.

There is, if not a cure, then an effective treatment, on display daily where Ridge Road crosses U.S. 19 to become Richey Road in Port Richey, where "Stop On Red Week" renews endlessly.

Since May 2, cameras at the intersection snapped away at southbound traffic, identifying motorists for whom stop-on-red is no more than a vague suggestion, initiating the process that rewards many with $125 fines.

Now, an intersection that once brandished a reputation for generalized lawlessness has become so well-mannered you might want to ask it home for dinner.

A Breathtaking Drop

Monday, This Space dispatched itself to conduct a rush-hour observation similar to the one reported on these pages in October 2007. Stationed again in the Denny's parking lot immediately northwest of the target intersection where the signals and stop bars were in plain view, our unscientific eyes detected only seven obvious red-light violations over a one-hour span.

Seven violations in roughly 35 cycles - one every five light changes - may sound like a lot, but compare that to our previous stakeout: an average of 1.33 violations every cycle.

Failed mastery of the algebraic expertise necessary to compute, precisely, the drop in infractions represented here hints at why we did not follow our dream to NASA. Nonetheless, "plummeting" and "precipitous drop" are the descriptions that plainly apply.

Also, contrary to conventional wisdom, "cha-ching!" did not ring out from the direction of the cameras as each scofflaw blew the light.

Stop On Red Week ends Saturday. We are mystified about the ramifications of its conclusion. A return to Code Red in America's intersections? Not at U.S. 19 and Ridge Road. Lawmakers who continue to resist automated enforcement should pay heed.

Tom Jackson can be reached at (813) 948-4219.

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