Rush decisions, real consequences: Oklahoma City police target red light offenders

Oklahoma City police are cracking down on red light runners this week. Department officials said drivers ignoring red lights is a dangerous problem all over the metro, but more so at the busiest intersections in our city.

It's something every driver has possibly done once or twice while in a rush. 

“You’ll get somebody who will see a light turn yellow and think I can make it,” said Msgt. Gary Knight, Oklahoma City Police Department. “They put the gas pedal to the floor, it will turn red and they speed right through it.”

That decision can have tragic consequences not only for drivers but pedestrians crossing the street. 

“Sometimes those accidents can be fatal or at least very serious,” said Knight.

For that reason, on Monday, the Oklahoma City police traffic safety unit focused on the intersection at North Rockwell Avenue and the Northwest Expressway for two hours.

“We would have a person station at the intersections simply seeing who was doing it, who was running it and he would radio ahead for that car to be stopped,” said Knight.

This week, officers not only made contact with drivers to warn them about the operation but also wrote a lot of citations.

“It’s an effort to try to stop a lot of accidents,” said Knight.

The operation on Monday will not be the last.

“This is just going to be one of numerous times that we’re going to go out and address this at different intersections,” said Knight.

A ticket for running a red light in Oklahoma City is $183, and if a driver is caught speeding through the red light, that ticket can cost up to $213.