Tom and Lauren Hanley’s lives abruptly changed forever on their wedding day in June 2010 when a shuttle bus driver transporting their entire wedding party ran a red light. Their best friend and wedding officiant, Jim, was killed in the tragic crash.
In Florida, benefits of red-light safety cameras extend beyond public safety and into the world of cutting edge science. The Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act allocates a portion of traffic fines collected from safety cameras to Florida’s trauma centers and to The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. The Miami Project’s research into spinal cord and brain injuries has a direct impact on the many victims of motor vehicle accidents that suffer these types of life altering injuries.
Amanda was severely injured in 2004 when a dump-truck driver ran a red light and broadsided into her SUV. Amanda suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, lost her spleen and almost lost a kidney. The truck was 12-seconds late going through the intersection.
In 2007, my mom was on her way to my house from work. She had just gotten off of a bus and was waiting with several other pedestrians at a crosswalk on a busy highway. A truck driver ran a red light — eight seconds after it turned — and collided with a front-loading tractor in the intersection. The truck careened into the people in the crosswalk and killed my mom instantly.
Husband killed by a red-light runner
In October of 2003, my husband and brother went out for a quick bite to eat. On their way home, a little over a mile from our house, they stopped at a red-light. As they started with the green light, another driver blew through a red light. My brother was critically injured — and my husband died instantly. I was 9 months pregnant.
Anne Post
Kansas City, MO: Mother of two and accident victim
“I think red light cameras work because people will be more cautious, if they know there’s a camera watching them. Someone did run a red light and T-boned the passenger side of my car.”
Theresa Garza Ruiz
Jackson County, MO
Was hit by a red light runner and able to walk away without injury.
Melissa McManamy
Kansas City, MO mother of three
“As a parent, I believe red light safety cameras decrease severe crashes that end up in death or terrible injury”
Kathy Tremeear
10-year-old daughter killed by a red light runner
My daughter, Kayla, was a straight-A student. She was a budding artist who loved all kinds of music. She should be away at college right now, learning exciting new things and wondering where life will take her. Instead, my little girl died December 29, 2002, when a driver went through a red light and struck our van.