State crash records show 22,590 crashes involving drivers who ignored traffic control devices since 2020, with 917 of those crashes causing serious injuries and 130 ending in death. That grim tally is why Rep. Jake Fitisemanu, D-West Valley City, is pushing to put red-light cameras back at Utah intersections, even though past attempts to pass similar legislation have stalled.
Fitisemanu is renewing the push after years of failed proposals. KUTV reported crash totals from the state's Department of Public Safety portal. He has cited one especially alarming cluster of fatalities on the Mountain View Corridor, where he said five people died in separate red-light-running incidents in a single recent year, though the station's report does not specify which year. Previous versions of his proposal called for a pilot program at up to 10 of the state's most dangerous intersections, with the cameras initially issuing warnings instead of citations, but those bills have not found enough support among Utah lawmakers to pass.
No Cameras Yet, But Plenty of Surveillance Already
For now, Utah drivers will not find a single red-light camera watching an intersection anywhere in the state, the outlet's report notes. That doesn't mean the roads are unwatched. Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd has voiced support for automatic license plate readers, a separate technology already deployed around the city, telling the station his department has roughly 70 such cameras in use, per the same account.
Those plate readers have become a workhorse for investigators even though they don't target red-light running specifically. Salt Lake police have used the cameras in more than 6,400 investigations over the past five years, the station reported. Fitisemanu's camera proposal would represent a different, more targeted tool aimed squarely at drivers who run red lights, rather than the broader identification purpose the plate readers serve.
A Grim Local Backdrop of Recent Crashes
The debate arrives amid recent crashes on Salt Lake-area streets. On Oct. 26, a person riding an e-bike was critically injured when a vehicle ran a red light and struck them at Redwood Road and 1700 South in Salt Lake City, according to KSL. That crash came roughly two months after a male cyclist died on Aug. 25 after colliding with a turning car on 800 South near 1000 East, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune.
The Tribune also reported safety concerns on 800 South. In the same week as that cyclist's death, the city committed $2.3 million toward safety improvements at locations across Salt Lake City, the newspaper noted. Salt Lake County recorded four bicyclist deaths from car collisions this year, the most in a single year since five died in 2022, and bicycle-involved crashes and injuries in the county had climbed for three straight years after declining steadily from 2012 through 2022, per the Tribune's reporting.
An Earlier Warning Sign in South Salt Lake
The dangers of red-light running at Utah intersections aren't new. On June 20, 2023, a 19-year-old cyclist was transported in critical condition after apparently riding through a red light at 3300 South in South Salt Lake and into the city's arterial roadway, where he was struck by a vehicle, KUTV reported. The incident remains one of the examples cited as lawmakers weigh whether cameras could prevent similar collisions.
Whether Utah lawmakers will eventually back a red-light camera program remains unresolved, with Fitisemanu's effort facing the same legislative hurdles that have sunk earlier versions of the proposal.
