I grew up in Australia with red light cameras and super high penalties for running red lights. Seeing drivers run red lights there is quite rare. I didn’t think much of it until I moved to the Bay Area where I seem to see someone run a red, sometimes seconds into it on what seems like a weekly basis. It’s so common that now when I’m at the front of traffic and the light turns green I inch forward and look both ways, something I never used to do. As a cyclist it terrifies me as getting hit by a driver running a red would most likely be fatal.

It’s probably an unpopular opinion here in the US but I’d like to see more red light cameras and higher penalties for what is a really dangerous traffic violation that is easily preventable with a change of drivers’ attitudes.