Does Matawan Have Too Many Red Lights?

If you’re frustrated with the red light situation in the Matawan area, you are in good company.

While stop lights are one of the necessary evils of commuting, they don’t guarantee safety for pedestrians or cooperation from drivers.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, red-light running is the number one cause of urban crashes. Furthermore in 2013, approximately 127,000 people were injured in red-light related crashes.

In August 2015, the National Coalition for Safer Roads released an interactive safety map that would allow users to see the number of red-light running deaths in their area as part of the group’s ‘Stop on Red’ initiative.

At Patch, we appreciate that our readers and motorists know the stop lights in the Matawan area best. We asked you on Facebook how you felt about the red lights in our area. Could the Matawan area use more red lights? Are there too many? What intersections need a stop light, or can get rid of one?

Here’s what readers said on social media:

• “Too many”

• “I cannot think of any existing lights that would be better replaced by stop signs. I can think of at least one place, the intersection of Mill Rd. and 34 by the Carvel, where a light might be useful. Try making a left there. Though there are already many lights nearby, so it may not be practical.”

• “I’m not sure about too many or not enough, but I can tell you this: there needs to be some sort of pedestrian walkway with flashing lights or something because someone will get hit by a car soon crossing the “crosswalk” at Matawan Train Station.”

• “Yeah, I think the problem is more of the common sense rule to look before you cross, and I’ve seen people walking across not even in the crosswalks.”

• “There needs to be a light on the corner of Lloyd Rd. and Ivy Hill.”

Is there a red light in the Matawan area you can’t stand? Is there an intersection that could desperately use a red light? Let us know on Facebook.