ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
yellow and red
lights; extension
Increases the length of the steady yellow and steady red signals on all traffic control devices.
Red light running crashes have become an increasing concern for the traffic safety community. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in 1998, red light running accounted for about 89,000 crashes, 80,000 injuries and nearly 1,000 deaths. The cost to the public is estimated to be as much as $7 billion per year. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), Arizona has the highest rate of fatal red light running accidents in the United States, and Phoenix, Mesa and Tucson are three of the top four cities that have the highest death rate in red light crashes from 1992 to 1998.
Current law requires all traffic control devices to conform to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) published by the Federal Highway Administration. The MUTCD recommends the yellow vehicle change interval have a range of approximately three to six seconds, with longer intervals generally appropriate where traffic speeds are higher. The MUTCD further indicates that the yellow interval may be followed by a red clearance interval, of sufficient duration to permit traffic to the clear the intersection before conflicting traffic movements are released.
The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Proposed Recommended Practice for Determining Vehicle Change Intervals computes yellow interval timing as a function of approach speed and grade, along with assumed values for perception-reaction time, deceleration rate, and acceleration due to gravity. The ITE Traffic Engineering Handbook states that the decision to use an all-red clearance interval is determined by intersection geometry, collision experience, pedestrian activity, approach speeds, local practices and engineering judgement. The length of the all-red interval is a function of approach speed and width on an intersecting roadway that must be cleared.
A study completed in 1997 by the IIHS asserts red light compliance can be increased by lengthening yellow signals and that safety benefits associated with longer change intervals can be sustained. Additionally, a study conducted by the Office of the House Majority Leader, Dick Armey, found that problem intersections where yellow times have been raised by about 30 percent, the number of people entering on red fell dramatically. This study cited a 73 percent decrease in the number of red-light citations for left-turn violation in the City of Mesa at intersections where the left-turn yellow arrow duration was increased from 3 to 4 seconds.
S.B. 1294 requires local jurisdictions in urbanized areas to implement the ITE formulas for the steady yellow and steady red duration plus one second on all traffic control devices.
The fiscal impact to this legislation is unknown.
1. Requires local authorities in urbanized areas to implement and add one second to the ITE’s recommended practice for determining vehicle change intervals for the steady yellow and steady red signals on all traffic control devices by January 1, 2003.
2. Specifies that an “urbanized area” means an urbanized area as defined in the decennial census by the United State Department of the Census.
3. Provides for a general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Staff
February 26, 2002