Tyler , TX (KETK) — Memorial Day weekend is almost here, which means a busy couple of days for our east Texas roads and highways. If you have a tendency to run a red light… don’t. “That’s one of our number one complaints,” said Don Martin with Tyler Police. According to the National Coalition for Safer Roads, this holiday ranks highest for red-light violations, along with Friday nights, and afternoons from 1 p.m. To 5 p.m. However, Tyler police say this is a problem year round. Martin said it’s because, “our city has grown and there is a lot of traffic out there, and people sometimes get impatient.”
Tyler Police say that if any degree of your car has crossed this invisible line from curb to curb as the light turns red, then you are still legally safe. This is NOT the white line you normally stop at. But the problem is, many don’t know this, and it makes people like, Marvin Pendergrass, avoid it all together. “Yeah its nerve racking, and its to the point now when the light changes and its time for you to go, you have to be very careful that someone’s not going to hit you,” said Pendergrass. He says he sees it happen all of the time, and there’s “way too much traffic, and the only way to calm it down is to get police on patrol.”
That’s exactly what Tyler police is doing, assigning motorcycle cops to look for red light runners. Martin said,”major intersections are the ones we’re paying closer attention too.” Especially the intersection at Loop 323, and South Broadway. Martin then added, “our goal is to prevent people from doing that because we know when you run a red light, you have a greater risk of having a traffic crash.”
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