Running red lights ‘a problem’ at major intersections in Mississauga: city

Mississauga officials are pointing to a new CAA study in once again driving home the message that motorists must always stop at red lights and not dangerously speed through intersections.

“Running a red light is dangerous and illegal, and it continues to be a problem at many major Mississauga intersections,” City of Mississauga officials said in a road safety reminder to drivers this week.

They added that ignoring a red traffic signal “has serious consequences and may result in a collision, life-altering injury or death. The city is reminding drivers to stop at red lights to help protect your own life and others — whether it’s a pedestrian, cyclist, transit user, passenger or another driver.”

The city points to an April 2025 CAA study that looked at 20 intersections across Canada as evidence that too many people — particularly pedestrians and cyclists — are put in position where they could potentially suffer injury due to red-light runners.

According to the study, one in every 770 pedestrians and one in 500 cyclists in the country was involved in a high-risk or critical-risk near miss at an intersection during the data collection period, Mississauga officials noted.

“The majority of these near misses involve right-turning vehicles — 55 per cent for pedestrians and 50 per cent for cyclists,” the city said, adding drivers must make a complete stop at all red lights, including when making a right turn.

Going through red lights is an aggressive driving behaviour that “significantly contributes” to the number of collisions in Mississauga, officials said.

“By law, drivers must stop at a red light and not enter the intersection,” they continued. “This includes before making a right turn. If drivers are making a right turn, they must come to a complete stop and check for pedestrians, cyclists and other traffic before proceeding.

“When the light turns yellow, drivers should slow down to a stop unless it’s unsafe to do so,” officials added.

Several Mississauga city councillors said recently they’d like to have more red-light cameras at city intersections in an effort to reduce the number of serious collisions and deaths.

Currently, 19 red-light cameras are in place at Mississauga intersections to nab dangerous drivers, according to the Region of Peel, which oversees the enforcement program. Eight of those cameras can be found along Derry Road, a busy east-west route in the city’s north end.

As further evidence that efforts to curb dangerous driving need to be increased, the city points to a recent review of 20 busy Mississauga intersections that led officials to believe more than 4,800 drivers sped through red lights at those locations in the course of one year. Broken down, the numbers showed that, on average, some 240 motorists raced through each of the 20 studied intersections illegally over a 12-month span.

One of the conclusions city officials reached is that “running red lights happens more often than you think.”

They added that “with hundreds of traffic signals across the city, this is a growing safety risk.”

To complete the study, the city hired a consultant who observed driver behaviour at each of the 20 intersections in 2023.

(Cover photo: City of Mississauga)