Why has Calgary seen an increase in red light runners?
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The number of red light tickets issued in Calgary was relatively stagnant from 2018 to 2021 — save for the height of the pandemic when city streets were relatively empty — before skyrocketing over 40 per cent in 2022.
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Last summer, Calgarian Michael McCutcheon was turning left on an advance green light when a large truck coming the other way ran the red.
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'If I hadn't turned right to try and avoid it, If I didn't see it happen, then my girlfriend in the passenger seat would be severely injured for sure,' McCutcheon said.
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'I guess I feel anger; it doesn't make sense how people can run red lights.'
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McCutcheon turned his little Honda Civic back to the right at the last second to avoid the broadside from the much larger truck, but his girlfriend still slammed her head hard into the windshield and still suffers from back problems to this day.
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Shortly after the accident, on July 2, 2024, McCutcheon posted to the Calgary community on Reddit asking for advice about the collision. There was no red-light camera at the intersection, and McCutcheon found out the hard way that the traffic monitoring camera present only takes a photo every few minutes.
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As of May, the City of Calgary has 52 red light cameras monitoring intersections. Statistics from the city say that between 2000 — the year before any cameras were installed — and 2023, collisions have fallen 33 per cent, fatal collisions reduced 75 per cent and injury rates are down 56 per cent.
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