Quick Refresher, Grand Junction: In Colorado, Yellow Means Wrap It Up, Not Speed It Up

Listen, Grand Junction, we have a problem. It's so common that last night, I was able to catch these photos of this exact thing happening.

Tuesday, I’m at North Avenue and 28 3/4 Road when a guy in a truck came barreling down North and blows straight through the red light.

Not a late yellow. That light was beyond red. And he was doing at least 60 on a road posted at 35.

Nobody got hurt. Not because he timed it right. Pure luck. That’s not driving. That’s a coin flip with other people’s lives.

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Running Yellow Lights and Stop Signs in Grand Junction

That truck is just the extreme version of what happens almost every day. The light turns yellow, the driver ahead decides “I can make it,” and punches it. A lot of the time, they can’t.

Grand Junction Drivers Running a Yellow Light

Quick refresher: in Colorado, yellow warns that red is coming, and rolling in after it turns red can get you ticketed. Yellow means wrap it up. Not speed it up.

Then there’s the stop sign crowd --looking at you, Orchard and 28-- rolling right through and pulling out in front of you. Why? No idea.

Grand Junction Crash Numbers Back It Up

Mesa County logged more than 17,000 crashes from 2018 through 2024, and 128 of them were deadly.

North Avenue landed twice in the top five crash intersections, at 12th and at 7th. In one crash at North and 7th, GJPD says an eastbound driver ran the red and hit another car.

Statewide, Colorado had 44 red light deaths in 2021, the sixth-highest rate in the country. And in a national AAA survey, 81% of drivers called running a fresh red very or extremely dangerous, yet 27% admitted doing it in the past month.

We all know. We do it anyway.

Red Light Runners Put Everyone Else in Danger

If you want to gamble with your own life, fine. But nearly half of those killed in red light crashes were passengers or people in other vehicles, and only about a third were the drivers who ran the light.

Most of the people who die aren’t the ones who made the bad call.

Read More: Two Speeds, One Valley: The Relatable Frustrations of Driving Grand Junction’s Busy Streets

What Running a Red Light Costs You in Colorado

Running a red light is a $100 fine plus a $10 surcharge, a stop sign is $70 plus $10, and either one typically adds four points to your license. That’s $110 and four points to save maybe 90 seconds.

Great trade.

Best defense? When your light turns green, give it about three seconds and look both ways.

And if you’re eyeing that yellow from half a block back? Just stop. The light turns green again in about two minutes. It always does.