I am a media consultant representing many clients including American Traffic Solutions, one of the nation’s leading red light camera companies. I also spent nearly a quarter century as a journalist for The Associated Press, telling stories about real people for national and international audiences. Now I’m telling my own real life story - of being injured in a crash with a red light runner. This personal experience is why I believe in red light cameras. It is why I am so passionate about volunteering my own time and contributing my own resources to the new statewide traffic safety coalition, Missouri Families for Safer Roads.

Like so many victims of red light runners, my story begins on a perfectly ordinary day on a perfectly ordinary Missouri street. It was a warm Saturday morning during Memorial Day weekend. I had done some shopping and had a green light to proceed east across busy Providence Road, a major north-south route through downtown Columbia, Missouri.

Suddenly a small southbound car sped through the red light and T-boned me.

The other driver never hit his brakes until it was too late. If you’ve ever been in a car crash, you know that what happens in the blink of an eye seems to pass in horrifying slow motion. The southbound car slammed with powerful impact between my driver’s side door and the front fender. I tried to brake. Our cars became a skidding mass of metal. My body moved like a yo-yo, as I was first propelled to my right, then the automatic seat belt yanked me back into my seat from the force of the crash. The sound of metal crushing and glass breaking was sickening – I can close my eyes and still hear it.

When we came to a stop, I just sat in shock. I could only draw shallow breaths. My shoulder ached from the yank of the seat belt. I realized my hands were still tightly gripping the steering wheel atop its bent column. I felt like passing out and struggled to keep my eyes open – but I didn’t dare look down from fear of seeing my own blood or worse. 

The teen-aged male driver bounded from his car and rushed to check on me. “I never saw the light. I never even saw the damned light,” he exclaimed. Someone called the police as I sat trapped in my smashed car and unable to open my own door.

The other driver told me he was rushing to a softball tournament for the Show-Me State Games. He was apologetic. He also had a record of speeding and running stop signs. 

Paramedics reached me through the passenger door. After a quick check of my vital signs, they laid a heavy protective apron over my chest and face so they could use the Jaws of Life to rip away my door, sending bits of broken glass flying over me. I was carefully placed on a backboard and got my first ride in the back of an ambulance.  At the emergency room of Boone Hospital Center, I was treated for shoulder, back and neck injuries.

My car was deemed repairable but it was never the same. I wasn’t the same, either – my injuries still trouble me to this day.

And ever since, I look both ways even if I have a green light. I believe a red light camera would have raised the other driver’s awareness and perhaps made him slow down and obey the traffic signal. We would also have had a visual record of the crash.

That’s why we need red light cameras. Their presence boosts the awareness of motorists. This reduces the occurrence of crashes and it saves lives and heartaches for countless families.

Please join me in supporting Missouri Families for Safer Roads.