TEMPE, AZ — Tempe officials are monitoring how longer yellow traffic light times will impact Valley drivers.
At a Thursday night city council review session, council members are looking at how yellow change intervals could affect safety on Tempe streets.
Currently, yellow lights are set for four seconds for lights in 30-, 35-, and 40-mile-per-hour speed zones. Yellows are 4.5 seconds for 45-mile-per-hour speed zones.
Yellow light durations around the Valley can vary.
A 2021 ABC15 investigation found most large Arizona cities time their yellow lights shorter than the national traffic engineering standard, even as our state has the worst death rate for red-light running crashes in the nation.
The city of Phoenix recently made the decision to increase its yellow light times following a study on how longer yellow light times would impact safety on the roads.
Phoenix's change will put their times at standards recommended by the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
According to data obtained by the city of Tempe, the results from Phoenix testing so far show red-light running decreases 30-60% initially.
Red-light running does increase over time but after 12 weeks, overall numbers are still lower than before testing began.
Tempe officials say they are continuing to follow the changes in Phoenix and the decisions of other neighboring cities to maintain consistency as commuters cross city borders.