Road Rants: Red-light runners caught on camera

Since the first electric traffic light was invented in 1912, people have been racing to get through them, even after they turn red. But if you do it, you’re running the risk of a $265 ticket, and the fine goes up if you’re in a construction zone or a crash.

If you spend much time driving in Central Oregon, you know which lights are the toughest to get through.

“U.S. 20 and Empire is a quite congested intersection,” ODOT Region 4 Traffic Operations Engineer David Hirsch said Tuesday.

Hirsch has a lot on his plate. He’s in charge of every traffic signal on state highways from Hood River to Klamath Falls. He said the rate of people running reds goes up when there’s more congestion.

“When traffic volumes increase, there’s oftentimes that you have not everybody make it through the signal,” he said. “If that happens, we call that a ‘split failure.'”

As the population of Central Oregon continues to explode, the problem will only get worse.

“Historically, looking at Bend, traffic volumes have been increasing quite dramatically over the past five years specifically, to the point where people may not have waited previously, and now they are having to wait at the intersection,” Hirsch said.

Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than at the intersection of Highway 20 and Empire Avenue in northeast Bend. There’s only one lane coming into the intersection from the eastbound side of Empire, and it tends to get piled up.

During 10 consecutive light sequences between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m. on a Thursday, there were an average of 17 cars waiting to cross the intersection by the time the light turned green, not counting those in the left-turn lane. An average of 11 cars made it through each time, meaning on average, there are six that have to wait for the next cycle.

But in four of those 10 trials, the last person to cross the intersection ran the red light.

The intersection of Greenwood Avenue and Bond Street in downtown Bend is also notable.

Just after passing Bond going west on Greenwood, you’ll come up to the Wall Street signal. This short distance can create a buildup between the two intersections, sometimes to the point at which you’ll have to stop on a green light. But sometimes, you may feel you’ve just got to make it through.

Five consecutive light cycles we observed saw heavy congestion between Bond and Wall, and each of those five times, someone snuck through a red light. The next cycle cleared that space, but on that trial, someone still ran the red light.

This intersection is a unique challenge, not just because of the spacing between the signals, but also because it’s downtown. The traffic lights in that part of Bend are rigidly timed — they’re always on a set pattern.

The rest of Bend relies on more sophisticated technology. Cameras mounted at each intersection will send traffic pixel information directly to receptors in a box on a corner. After processing, the box will relay the information to the signals above the street.

All the lights outside of downtown work in conjunction with each other to give all drivers at the intersection a chance to get through without having to wait another cycle. There’s only one person in charge of all this, so necessary changes to the system might take a while to implement.

“As much as we like to say we like to do things proactively, the truth of the matter is we’ve only got so much staff that can evaluate these signals, so we tend to be a little bit more on the reactive side,” Hirsch said.

But this new technology does get more people through intersections, reducing the chance someone may run a red light. It might also be our best defense against red-light running, even considering the hefty fine if you’re caught.

Driver Dave Ridings said, “Trying to enforce that is probably not realistic, just because of the time it would take for a police officer to do other important things, as opposed to enforcing a stop light.”

So as technology continues to improve, some drivers may be weaned off their red light-running habits.