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Getting caught running a red light will cost drivers $83.
By JAMIE MALERNEE
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 13, 2001
SPRING HILL -- Deputy Mike Glatfelter pulled his patrol car behind some trees near Spring Hill Drive and Deltona Boulevard and waited.
Within 10 minutes, he and two other Hernando County sheriff's deputies on motorcycles saw what they were looking for: a red light runner. The truck sailed right through the signal, never slowing until the flash of police lights appeared in the driver's rearview mirror.
"They happen all the time -- much more than you would think," Glatfelter said with a shake of his head. His point was proved many times over in the next half hour on Friday, as six drivers ran the light at the same Deltona intersection between 11:30 a.m. and noon.
During the past week, Hernando County sheriff's officials have been targeting red light violations as part of a statewide crackdown, stationing themselves at the busiest intersections in Spring Hill and along high-traffic truck routes elsewhere in the county. The effort will continue through today.
So far this week, deputies have ticketed 35 drivers. Deputies would have written more, they said, but a double shooting and accidents kept them busy.
Getting caught running a light will cost drivers $83 and three points on their licenses.
But it could cost them much more, including their lives and the lives of other people on the road, said Glatfelter, who said he sees accidents caused by red light running with frightening frequency.
In 1999, red light violations in Florida caused more than 9,000 crashes, about 14,000 injuries and 127 deaths, according to the Florida Community Traffic Safety Teams Coalition. Last year, Hernando County teenagers Danielle Werner and Chelsea Druzbick were killed when a man now charged with DUI-manslaughter ran a red light at U.S. 98 and State Road 50 near Ridge Manor and slammed into their car.
"Everybody thinks that it's not going to happen to them," Glatfelter said. "Everybody is in such a hurry anymore that they think not stopping is going to help them get there faster."
The Sheriff's Office does not keep detailed statistics of red light violations. But the most common thing deputies say they see is drivers who speed up when the light turns yellow.
"They try to beat it. They think yellow means put on the gas, instead of slow down," Glatfelter said. "When I see that, I'll pull them over and write a ticket, because that's when you have your worst crashes, when they're accelerating through the intersection."
Deputies add that many drivers think they can get out of receiving a ticket for running a red light, as if it were not a serious traffic infraction.
"They say, "Oh, I thought it was yellow,' Or, "Oh, I wasn't paying attention," Deputy Steve Klapka said. "It's like, "Well, if you're driving, I think you need to be."
The strangest excuse Klapka ever heard, he said, came from a woman wearing only a nightie.
"She was speeding and said, "I have to get home because my husband works nights, and I have to get there before he does," Klapka said with a chuckle.
Despite such comical out-takes, deputies say danger looms large. A chronic problem they see is large trucks that run lights along truck routes, especially early in the mornings. The most common intersections for such violations are at Spring Lake Highway and SR 50 and Emerson Road and SR 50.
"When you hear that horn, you know not to pull out in front of them because (the truck drivers) are going through," Glatfelter said.
Those situations have a huge potential to turn into fatal accidents, officials say.
"You've got a fully loaded truck that weighs 70,000 pounds up against a car that weighs 3,500 (pounds). The result is not good," he said. "Someone in that car is not likely to survive."
Many truckers tell deputies that their rigs are simply too big to stop quickly at red lights.
"(That's) garbage," he said. "I say," You know what you're operating and you know what it takes to be prepared to stop ahead of time.' "
Other drivers think they don't have to stop at a red light if they are turning right. On Friday, three such drivers were stopped at the Deltona Boulevard intersection.
"It's amazing how many people don't think they have to stop," Glatfelter said. "Totally amazing."