Oklahoma County Deputies Launch Christmas Crackdown

Oklahoma County deputies may put a traffic ticket in your Christmas stocking in you don't obey the rules at red lights and stop signs.

Tuesday, December 21st 2010, 6:03 pm

By: News 9


News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma County deputies may put a traffic ticket in your Christmas stocking in you don't obey the rules at red lights and stop signs.

The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office has launched its Red Lights for Christmas program. From now through January 2, deputies will be enforcing a zero tolerance policy for drivers who fail to yield at intersections.

"Too many drivers see a yellow light and think that's a signal to speed up to enter the intersection," said Sheriff John Whetsel. "Many more think it's just okay to run a red light. Running red lights has become a deadly epidemic in Oklahoma County."

Statistics from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office show that nearly 7,000 people were involved in failure to yield crashes in 2009. Tracy Zentz's son died in a failure to yield wreck last year.

"Aaron could have been anything he wanted to be, but that all ended one day in the blink of an eye when a traffic light was ignored and my son was gone," said Zentz. "The last conversation I had with my son was one we had time and time again. I told him to be careful. And he told me, 'I'm always careful, Mom.'"

A ticket for running a red light costs $211.50, and two points on a driver's record. That could lead to an increase in the cost of car insurance.

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