Injured in a Traffic Light Accident?

Intersection Crash Statistics

Each year, roughly one-quarter of traffic deaths and about one-half of traffic injuries in the United States are attributed to intersections. About 40% of the estimated 5,811,000 U.S. crashes in 2008 were intersection-related. In 2024, 1,119 people were killed and more than 141,000 injured in red-light-running crashes.

Signalized intersection crashes are severe, with T-bones, pedestrian impacts, and multi-vehicle crashes, because a driver has almost no time to react when another driver enters against a red light.

Proving Fault in Intersection Crashes

The fault question in a traffic light crash is which driver had the legal right of way, and both drivers usually claim the light was in their favor. One driver says the other ran the red, and the other says it was still yellow. Eyewitness accounts are one source of evidence, and without technical evidence the case becomes a credibility contest, which is exactly where insurance companies want it. A contested liability case gives them room to undervalue or deny your case. Our team builds the technical case from the evidence before that dispute is raised.

Common Causes of Traffic Light Crashes

Traffic light crashes trace back to these driver and equipment failures:

• Running red lights: intentional or inattentive. Distracted drivers often miss the signal change entirely and enter the intersection on a full red.
• Speeding through yellow lights: a driver who accelerates through a stale yellow instead of stopping causes a crash when cross traffic lawfully enters on green.
• Signal malfunctions: a signal that displays conflicting phases, fails to cycle properly, or has a burned-out light creates hazards drivers cannot avoid.
• Blocked or obscured signals: tree branches, signage, construction equipment, or vehicle placement that blocks a signal’s sight lines creates a contested visibility issue.
• Distracted driving leads a driver to skip braking before the intersection and enter it at full speed, which produces some of the most severe crashes.
• Tailgating through intersections: a driver following too closely can be forced through a red light when the lead vehicle’s brake lights give too little warning distance.

Intersection Crash Investigation Steps

A structured intersection crash investigation covers seven steps:

• Scene documentation: roadway evidence, signal positions, sight lines, skid marks, and debris patterns, recorded before the scene is cleaned
• Vehicle examination: EDR extraction, damage profile analysis that establishes approach angles, speeds, and point of impact, and airbag deployment data
• Witness contact: passengers, pedestrians, and other drivers at the light, interviewed while their accounts are fresh
• Signal records request: a formal request to KYTC and Louisville Metro for the signal timing log on the date of the crash
• Camera preservation: written preservation requests to every identified camera source
• Cell phone records: preservation letters to the at-fault driver’s carrier when distraction is suspected
• 3D accident reconstruction: when crash speed or sequence is contested, a professional reconstructionist builds a simulation model of the crash physics

Government Liability for Signal Malfunctions

Who answers for a malfunctioning traffic signal depends on who owns and maintains it. Negligence claims against the Commonwealth and its agencies, including KYTC, belong to the Board of Claims, which has exclusive jurisdiction under KRS 49.040 (formerly KRS 44.070). A single award cannot exceed $250,000, and multiple claims from one negligent act cannot exceed $400,000 in total. Under KRS 49.060, the Commonwealth waives sovereign immunity only in those limited situations.

When a city maintains a state-owned traffic control device under a contract with the Commonwealth, KRS 49.050 sends negligence claims about that maintenance to the Board of Claims under the same limits. Louisville Metro Government otherwise has the same sovereign immunity as a county under KRS 67C.101(2)(e). Maintenance records can show whether a malfunction was reported before the crash, and our team evaluates signal malfunction as a potential liability factor in every intersection crash case.

The at-fault driver’s insurance company will call a red-light dispute a “he said, she said” case. Signal timing logs that show when the light changed, EDR data that shows the driver never braked, camera footage of the point of entry, and cell records that show the phone was in use remove that dispute entirely.

Hit by a Driver Who Ran a Red Light?

A red-light dispute is decided by records that disappear or get recorded over: business surveillance video, signal timing records, and black box data. When a signal malfunction played a part, a claim against a state agency goes to the Kentucky Board of Claims, with its own rules and damage limits.

Bigger Share Guarantee®: Clients always walk away with more money than the firm after medical bills, liens, and case expenses are paid. If the client’s share would ever be less than the legal fee, the firm cuts its fee. You focus on getting better. We handle everything else. Ask Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers for a free case review of your intersection crash.