Red-Light Runners and the Rule of Law

One of the challenges of living in Utah Valley is the nearly constant disregard for traffic control devices including red lights. For those of you out there who may not be familiar with Utah Valley, it is located in the north part of the State of Utah, just south of the Salt Lake Valley and along a mountain range called the Wasatch Front. It contains the following communities: Provo, Orem, and their suburbs, including Alpine, American Fork, Cedar Hills, Elberta, Elk Ridge, Genola, Goshen, Highland, Lehi, Lindon, Mapleton, Payson, Pleasant Grove, Salem, Santaquin, Saratoga Springs, Spanish Fork, Springville, Vineyard, and Woodland Hills. The main north/south access in the Valley is confined to the Interstate 15 Freeway. The rest of the Valley is a hodgepodge of all of the small communities with their own street systems. North/south traffic is also impeded by a great portion of the Valley being filled with Utah Lake. Other than the Freeway, there are no direct routes. The only other route that could be considered to be available for north/south traffic is State Highway 68 on the west side of Utah Lake.

Utah Valley is also one of the fastest-growing areas in the entire United States. The present population of Utah Valley is estimated to be over 575,000. From 2010 to 2019, Utah Valley grew by 26.1% and added 134,845 people. See "Utah saw huge population growth this decade, led by Utah County." Also, Utah as a whole is estimated to have 870 vehicles per 1,000 people. But you also have to know that in Utah Valley 33.4% of the population is under the age of 18 years and nearly 10% are under the age of 5 years. See "United States Census Bureau, Quick Facts, Utah County, Utah." This means that the actual number of motor vehicles per driver in Utah Valley is much higher than the average for Utah.

What does all this mean when you mix a younger population with that many cars? Chaos as illustrated by the fact that Utah ranks fourth in the nation in the number of per capita red light deaths. See "Data Shows Alarming Increase In Red Light Crashes." Unfortunately, it is the person who is going through the intersection on a green light who is the most likely to be killed. See "Fatal car accidents by running red lights at highest level in a decade: AAA."

Of course, my personal experience is anecdotal but while driving in Utah Valley, especially in Provo, I see dozens of red light violations a month and I have seen as many as five cars going through one red light at the same time. Starting up quickly from a stop at a red light when your light turns green is extremely dangerous. Most drivers in Utah Valley expect red-light runners and wait for a second or two to make sure the cross-traffic is stopped before attempting to enter the intersection. Most of the problem is due to drivers who simply view a yellow light as a notice to speed up to avoid stopping. If you stop for yellow lights, you are liable to be rear-ended by the car behind you speeding up to "make the light."

It is an "infraction" in the state of Utah to run a red light and there is a fine for a conviction of about $120 and demerit points on your driving record. Multiple infractions also generally affect your insurance rates. It is not unusual to have run a few red lights in a lifetime of driving but there is something more going on in Utah and particularly Utah Valley.

For over 200 years, Americans have supported and observed the Rule of Law defined as the restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws. Running red lights is an obvious symptom of ignoring the Rule of Law. The rule about running red lights is well-defined and established. Every citizen of the state of Utah who obtains a drivers' license has to learn about the motor vehicle law in Utah and pass a test on those laws. Here is a comment about the Rule of Law from Wikipedia: Rule of Law:

The rule of law implies that every person is subject to the law, including people who are lawmakers, law enforcement officials, and judges. In this sense, it stands in contrast to a monarchy or oligarchy where the rulers are held above the law. Lack of the rule of law can be found in both democracies and monarchies, for example, because of neglect or ignorance of the law, and the rule of law is more apt to decay if a government has insufficient corrective mechanisms for restoring it.

People who intentionally run red lights are not just acting from expediency, they are consciously ignoring the Rule of Law in the United States. Justice Sonia Sotomayor is quoted as saying, "I firmly believe in the rule of law as the foundation for all of our basic rights." See "Full Text: Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Speech."

Here is a short video that talks directly about the relationship between the rule of law and the disregard of red lights in Utah Valley.

Court Shorts: Rule of Law

Here in Utah Valley, you can not drive the streets without fearing for your life at each intersection of the streets and roads. Despite their patina of law-abiding citizens, there is a huge number of people in Utah Valley that believe that traffic control devices do not apply to them personally. Here is where the problems we see on a national level begin.