When the light turns green, it’s your turn to move into the intersection. However, you don’t just want to trust that light and press the gas immediately, as most people do. Remember that it is just a light. It tells other drivers to stop, but it offers you absolutely no protection if they fail to do so.
Instead, look twice for drivers who are going to run the red light. In a lot of cases, these are people who actually sped up to go through on the yellow light, so they may be breaking the speed limit by a substantial margin. If they don’t make that yellow, they’re going far too fast to stop, and it can be a very violent collision if you drive out in front of them.
Another problem is, in many cases, simple driver indecision. The light turns yellow, and they don’t know if it’s better to slam on the brakes or hit the gas. That split-second of indecision makes it too late for them to do either thing safely. They end up driving through the red light, knowing they made a mistake but unable to do anything about it.
Yes, the accident is their fault, but you shouldn’t be thinking about fault at this point. You should be thinking about staying safe. The best way to do it is to look twice for red-light runners and practice defensive driving. You may be able to avoid the crash.
Of course, even doing this doesn’t mean you’ll never get involved in an accident. If another driver’s mistake or indecision puts you in the hospital, you need to know what legal options you have.
