In Madison, red means go.
I have vivid memories of my kindergarten teacher, Ms. Swan. She gave us the warmest and most welcoming hugs the first day we stepped tentatively into her classroom and she had a giant stoplight in a corner of her classroom. She used it to teach us that red means stop, yellow means slow, and green means go.
I’ve lived in three different states and Madison is the most bicycle-friendly place. However, I’m appalled by the number of drivers who run red lights here at almost every intersection, no matter the neighborhood. The lack of enforcement makes this behavior tolerated, and extremely unsafe for pedestrians. I don’t have hard stats to show how many drivers run red lights, but as a driver and dedicated bike commuter, I do have firsthand experience.
The number of cars running red lights is on the rise and I’m seriously concerned — the disregard for following the law is dangerous for everyone, especially pedestrians. I began to feel frustrated, unsafe, and annoyed about this egregious behavior, so I started recording drivers running red lights in real time while biking. You can view my videos on YouTube youtube.com/channel/UCjScvYiDZ7PNp0X7qUvg_og. If you just want a couple of examples, watch videos from April 29 and May 19, 2025.
The current Vision Zero Madison plan has a goal to advocate for automated traffic enforcement (see page 33, goal 7.1). It’s unreasonable to expect Madison’s traffic and transportation engineering departments to design streets that stop all speeding and signal violations or to expect enforcement to fall solely on the shoulders of the Madison Police Department. State law makes it illegal to use any sort of automated enforcement (such as cameras commonly used in many other cities) to enforce speed and traffic signal violations. Milwaukee is pushing the Wisconsin State Legislature to allow the use of automated enforcement cameras to catch speeders and red-light runners — read online to learn more. We need to advocate and push hard for safe streets in Madison!
What can you do?
▪ Write local politicians expressing your concern about increasing traffic signal violations and let them know how unsafe this behavior is for pedestrians and bicyclists.
▪ Ask politicians to make it law to implement the use of automated speed enforcement systems and traffic control photographic systems in cities such as Milwaukee and Madison that will provide a penalty to those who violate the law.
▪ Be a respectful pedestrian and bicyclist – lead by example and follow traffic signals. Spread the word: tell your friends and family about this growing problem. Let’s make sure Madison remains one of the top bicycle friendly places in the nation!
Katie Nash, Northside Resident
