3 Pasadena Intersections Make List for Red Light Crashes

Pasadena has a problem with motorists running red lights, then crashing, but it certainly is not alone.

A study by the Automobile Assn. of Southern California shows that three intersections in Pasadena were among the nine worst in Los Angeles County during 1998 for accidents caused by drivers running red lights.

The worst intersection was Pasadena’s Walnut Street and Pasadena Avenue, which experienced 18 accidents caused by people blowing through red lights, according to the study, which used statistics compiled by the California Highway Patrol.

The Auto Club said it could not pinpoint reasons why some intersections had more problems with red light crashes than others, but noted that many of the streets with the worst records were near freeway exits and entrances.

“People seem to be rushing when they get on or exit freeways,” said Arline Dillman, the Auto Club’s chief traffic safety expert. “They may be adjusting their speed too soon in getting on or not soon enough when they exit the freeways.”

Another problem may be the size of some intersections.

The second worst intersection for collisions related to red light violations last year was Bellflower Boulevard and Willow Street in Long Beach, with 14 crashes.

Long Beach Police Sgt. Hans Kohnlein said Willow and Bellflower “is a very large intersection, with three lanes east and three lanes west on Willow, and three north and three south on Bellflower.”

There are left turn lanes on both streets, which frustrate drivers who have to wait through a cycle of light changes before they can turn.

“People hate to wait, so if they are the last one in a line, they try to run it,” Kohnlein said.

Pasadena has stepped up red light enforcement patrols in light of the accident problem. The two other intersections recording high levels of red light crashes were Marengo Avenue and Union Street, and Lake Avenue and Union Street.

All three intersections are along the Lake Avenue commercial corridor.

“Over the last nine to 10 months, the traffic section has implemented several saturation-type enforcement operations in the Lake Avenue corridor,” said Lt. Alex Uribe.

Uribe said the extra enforcement, accompanied by a new system of synchronized signals, helped to dramatically reduce accidents during the first three months of this year. Pasadena Avenue and Walnut and Marengo and Union did not have any accidents during that period, and Lake and Union had five accidents, two of them related to running red lights, Uribe said.

Running counter to its image as home to some of the world’s most menacing drivers, Los Angeles had only one intersection among the nine worst identified in the study.

Aliso and Los Angeles streets in downtown Los Angeles recorded 12 crashes during 1998 by drivers ignoring red lights.

Other problem intersections in Los Angeles, with seven crashes each, were Arcadia and Los Angeles streets, Century and Sepulveda boulevards, Hill Street and Jefferson Boulevard, and 2nd and Main streets.

The Auto Club said disregard of traffic signals accounted for 22% of all crashes in the United States, according to studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

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Danger Signals

The following intersections in Los Angeles County had the most collisions in 1998 caused by drivers running red lights:

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City Intersection Crashes 1. Pasadena Pasadena Avenue and Walnut Street 18 2.Long Beach Bellflower Boulevard and Willow Street 14 3.Los Angeles Aliso Street and Los Angeles Street 12 4.Arcadia Huntington Drive and Sunset Boulevard 11 Pasadena Marengo Avenue and Union Street 11 6.Cerritos Bloomfield Avenue and 91 Freeway, 10 eastbound offramp Pasadena Lake Avenue and Union Street 10 West Covina Amar Road and Azusa Avenue 10 Santa Clarita Sand Canyon Road and 10 Soledad Canyon Road

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Source: Automobile Assn. of Southern California