A Green Light Doesn’t Always Mean It is Safe To Proceed

A Green Light Doesn’t Always Mean It is Safe To Proceed

Los Angeles City Attorney candidate, and former State Assemblyman Mike Feuer, who represented Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood was seriously injured in a car accident on Monday, after his Toyota Prius vehicle was broadsided by a driver of a Chevy Tahoe who ran a red light. The “Jaws of Life” was needed to pull him out of his car. Mr. Feuer was rushed to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. Trauma room doctors determined he had broken and fractured ribs as well as a pulmonary contusion and spleen injury. Fortunately, Mr. Feuer is expected to make a full recovery.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that each year there are more than 2.3 million reported intersection crashes resulting in more than 7,700 deaths and more than 730,00 injuries. Red light running crashes resulting in death exceeded 760 in 2008. An estimated 165,000 people are injured each year by red light runners. Further statistics show that one out of three people know someone who has either been killed or injured by a red light running driver.


V C Section 21453 Circular Red or Red Arrow

Circular Red or Red Arrow
21453.  (a) A driver facing a steady circular red signal alone shall stop at a marked limit line, but if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if none, then before entering the intersection, and shall remain stopped until an indication to proceed is shown, except as provided in subdivision (b).
(b) Except when a sign is in place prohibiting a turn, a driver, after stopping as required by subdivision (a), facing a steady circular red signal, may turn right, or turn left from a one-way street onto a one-way street. A driver making that turn shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully within an adjacent crosswalk and to any vehicle that has approached or is approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard to the driver, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to that vehicle until the driver can proceed with reasonable safety.
(c) A driver facing a steady red arrow signal shall not enter the intersection to make the movement indicated by the arrow and, unless entering the intersection to make a movement permitted by another signal, shall stop at a clearly marked limit line, but if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or if none, then before entering the intersection, and shall remain stopped until an indication permitting movement is shown.
(d) Unless otherwise directed by a pedestrian control signal as provided in Section 21456, a pedestrian facing a steady circular red or red arrow signal shall not enter the roadway.