What are the blue lights on some traffic signals in Florida that are used? – Jalopnik

Drivers in certain areas of Florida such as GaineSville, Fort Myers, Orlando and Collier County, have started to notice strange small blue lights mounted at the top of some traffic signals. What are they for? Despite what you or your passengers have speculated, they have nothing to do with cameras with red light. Just like traffic cameras, however, they play a role in catching drivers who run red lights.

These small blue lights are called mounting lights and they are designed to help law enforcers from every direction to see which lights are red. For example, if a driver goes to the south, but the agent is confronted in a different direction, the officer could not see if the driver’s light was red when they entered the intersection. This is because a blue mounting light, which is only illuminated when the signal is red under it, can be seen in any direction.

There are a few potential benefits to install these lights. First, only one officer is needed to check a crossroads instead of two. Moreover, it is less dangerous for police officers, because they can follow full intersections from a safe viewpoint. The most important thing is that it hopes is that a first increase in quotes will be a deterrent for drivers who run red lights in the future.

Florida is not the only state where these lights are installed. Cities in Colorado, South Dakota and Kansas have also installed these blue indicators. In fact the Minnesota Department of Transportation conducted a safety investigation in 2014 on the impact of confirmation lights in Florida. Shortly thereafter, the small blue lights started to pop up in cities in Minnesota such as Blaine, Crystal and Maplewood.

That study showed that crashes caused by running red lights fell by 33% after these mounting lights were installed. Another study done by the Federal Highway Administration In 2017, the results stated his results “statistically significant crash reductions for most crash types”. So all signs seem to indicate that the mounting lights work.

This is important because, although the road deaths of all types of car accidents fell slightly last year, red light runs an important cause of road deaths in the US according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 1,086 people were killed and 136,000 were injured in 2023 in accidents where red lights were hit. Pedestrians, cyclists and drivers and passengers in other vehicles formed half of the total fatalities.

What we really want to say is not running red lights everywhere, regardless of your chance to get caught. Walking a red light can be fatal for you, your passengers, other drivers and even pedestrians. That is not worth the few minutes that you can save during your trip.

If that is not enough incentive to obey traffic signals, consider the penalties if you are caught. In Florida you will cost you a fine of $ 158 on the camera that runs a red light. Not paying non -paying will lead to a uniform traffic application being issued, and you must then pay up to $ 500, including administrative costs and legal costs.

However, if you are switched by an officer – perhaps someone who has seen the small blue confirmation light – look at more than $ 264, depending on the province, as well as points on your license. No matter how you look at it, there is no good reason to run a red light. So drive the traffic signals safely and obediently.