As we approach the holiday season with its increased social gatherings, there’s naturally more chances to meet with family and friends — to catch up on the things we hold dear to us. In my case it’s: “What’s going on out there? Why are so many people running red lights these days?”

I’ve heard so much about red light scofflaws in the past couple of weeks that the topic seems impossible to ignore.

Ask any driver lately, and you’ll hear the same complaint: red lights don’t seem to mean what they used to. But let’s take a step back first and talk about the big picture — how all those traffic lights are supposed to work.

If you had prudent and realistic instruction as a learning driver, you would know that the intersection is one of the most dangerous places on the road. A green light doesn’t mean: “Blast on through. You’re totally protected, nothing to worry about here.”

What you should have learned is that you enter an intersection with caution, constantly scanning right and left to make sure it’s safe to proceed. Your guard should never be down.

Next is the yellow light, and this is where 50% of the danger of red light-running actually........

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