By Michelle James
Register-Herald Reporter
—
It happens every day.
A driver sees a traffic light turn yellow and instinctively speeds up instead of slowing down.
By the time that driver has cleared the intersection, it is quite likely he or she has actually run a red light.
Southern Regional Highway Safety Program Coordinator Paul Blume says more people are injured in red light-related accidents than any other.
Beginning Friday, law enforcement agencies and businesses throughout the state will join forces in Target Red, a two-week campaign aimed at encouraging motorists to remember that red means stop.
This is the third year for Target Red, which went state-wide last year.
Although law enforcement is an important aspect of the campaign, Blume said the most important part is community support.
“We want the community to get involved and take ownership of the campaign,” he said, adding community participation has been a key in the initial success of the campaign.
Blume said a major way for the community to become involved is for businesses to put the “stop on red” message on their outdoor electronic signs and billboards.
Beckley Common Council and Mayor Emmett Pugh recently passed a resolution declaring Friday as Target Red Day.
Blume says it is his hope that businesses throughout the area will allow their employees to dress down Friday, donning red T-shirts in support of the campaign.
“If the mayor is going to take that step to make sure the city is involved, hopefully the businesses will follow suit,” Blume said, adding the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce has been active sending out letters to every business in Raleigh County letting them know about the campaign and asking them for support.
Raleigh General Hospital, Chick-fil-A in the Galleria Plaza and City National Bank locations throughout Raleigh County are already on board and the latter two will hand out Target Red items to customers throughout the day.
“Our businesses really look for ways and reasons to get involved and help the community out,” Blume said, adding churches are also big supporters.
Through April 30, officers from the Beckley, Lewisburg and Summersville police departments as well as deputies from the Raleigh, Fayette and Nicholas County sheriff’s departments will be out concentrating solely on red light patrol.
Blume said he hopes to see a decrease in the number of crashes, injuries and fatalities caused by red light violations.
Additionally, he wants to send a message that no matter how big of a hurry a motorist might be in, it is never worth running a red light.
“If you run through a red light, it saves you very little time while you’re putting yourself and others in very serious risk,” he said. “You need to slow down at intersections and slow down when you see a yellow light as you prepare to stop on red.
“That’s the whole idea.”
— E-mail: mjames@register-herald.com
