West Virginia law enforcement are targeting this violation in August

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — Thinking about running a red light? You’re more likely to get stopped and ticketed for doing so during a high-visibility enforcement mobilization starting Aug. 1.

According to a press release from the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program, law enforcement in the state will be targeting motorists who fail to stop at red traffic lights and stop signs from Aug. 1-15. This includes drivers who do “rolling” stops. In addition focusing on these violations, officers will also be more likely to give citations to drivers for those violations during those two weeks.

The enforcement mobilization is part of a campaign known as Target Red that was first started in Beckley in 2008 to reduce the “alarming levels” of crashes and fatalities from running red lights and stop signs, according to the West Virginia Department of Transportation.

According to the press release, when the campaign first began, incident were reduced by 60%. From 2016-2020, 18% of crashes in West Virginia were intersection related.