The majority of urban crashes and 83 percent of all injuries fall into one of five groups of accidents: red-light violations, highly congested traffic, running off the road, swerving into an occupied lane, or turning left and colliding with an oncoming vehicle are other major causes of accidents. According to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), each year over 1.8 million intersection crashes occur. Red-light running crashes account for 16 to 20 percent of the total crashes at urban signalized intersections. In 2003 approximately 206,000 occurred because of red light running that resulted in 934 deaths and approximately 176,000 injuries. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Philadelphia's red-light runners exceed the national average. Red-light violators in 2000 caused 13 deaths and 2,856 injuries in the city. PennDot reports that red-light running is the leading cause of Philadelphia traffic accidents.

Philadelphia's large number of streets were designed before the automobile era, resulting in a substantial amount of on-going highway and bridge construction throughout the metropolitan area.

Highways are limited to a specific vehicle carrying capacity and highway construction reduces the number of lanes and changes merging patterns and traffic density. Road construction is a major cause of road rage and impatient drivers may act illegally by exhibiting aggressive behavior such as driving on the shoulder of the highway.

Even with continuing highway improvement construction projects, studies indicate that mobility is not improving in urban areas such as Philadelphia. The U.S. Census forecasts the majority of the U.S. population in urban area swill significantly grow with vehicle miles traveled also rapidly increasing. In fact, from 1983 to 2003 the total vehicle miles traveled rose 75 percent while the miles traveled in urban areas grew 90 percent.

The number of people affected by Philadelphia traffic is growing and the duration of time lost in traffic is getting longer. While highway construction, mass transit, and bridge repairs contribute to economic growth and development, simply building more roads will not solve Philadelphia's automobile accident problem. We must work to save lives by preventing DUIs, speeding, tailgating, aggressive / sleepy / distracted driving and other negative behavior that has become a national safety issue that produces injuries and loss of life.