Tania Levett yelled at her two children and threw her arm in front of them to stop them heading over a pedestrian crossing in Richmond when a driver ran a red light.
She says impatient drivers are increasingly racing through the lights after they go red at the same time pedestrians get the ‘green man’ to cross, and says it is dangerous.
Tania and her children aged eight and 10 were crossing over Gladstone Road at the intersection with Queen St when a car raced through on red.
“The green man came up and we all started to go, then I looked up and realised a guy had blatantly gone on a red light. I managed to get my arm out to stop the kids while yelling at them to stop. It gave us all a bit of a fright.”
She says she wouldn’t allow her children to cross at the lights unsupervised because of the number of drivers ignoring red lights. She was also wary about her older son using the crossing, although nearly 13 and, she considers, street savvy.
“I drive through there all the time and I’m always seeing people going on red lights. Once people have been doing it, they think it is okay and it becomes common.”
“The green man isn’t long enough either – elderly people don’t even get halfway and it starts flashing and that causes drivers to get impatient.”
Tania says the intersection needs to be rethought as it gets blocked with vehicles and drivers get impatient which then leads to bad habits which can be dangerous. She says installing cameras at the lights might discourage those drivers ignoring red lights.
On the day they had a near miss, Tania says her children did not even see the car coming and it has shown them the importance of being on their guard, despite lights.
“We all had a chat about it afterwards and how we needed to be aware of traffic and make eye contact with the driver before crossing. I wouldn’t let them cross that road without me, even when they’re older.”
Tania is not the only one to voice her concerns about the lights. Numerous other people have taken to Facebook to tell of their near misses as pedestrians when drivers race through a red light, and warning that the practice is an accident waiting to happen.
In a statement, acting road policing manager senior sergeant, Hamish Chapman, said people who take the risk to run a red light are putting themselves and the lives of innocent members of the community at risk. He warns that pedestrians and other road users can be seriously injured or killed when people choose to run through a red light.
He could not provide any information about complaints regarding the lights though, as he said it is not information that is easily available or collatable.
On the question of cameras, he said red-light cameras are generally owned by local councils, while the police role is prevention and enforcement. Staff are on the road every day, including dedicated road policing teams, and he said all police staff are encouraged to take action on driving behaviour that warrants enforcement action.
He said anyone witnessing drivers running a red light can note down the registration number - if it safe to do so - and report it via 105.
