New Red Traffic Light Law

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Recently a new state law in Ohio has passed saying drivers can travel through a red light if it is malfunctioning.

Chief of Zanesville Police Department, Tony Coury said drivers for as long as he’s known have been dealing with malfunctioning traffic signals in the same manner.

“A signal that’s out of power or not working correctly, then treat it as a stop sign and proceed with caution,” said Coury. “You know, a lot of these are four-way intersections so you know you need to take caution and make sure your traveling safe.”

This law does not mean under any circumstance that drivers can drive through red lights while they are working correctly.  Coury said if a person traveling blatantly drives through a red light, they’ll need to prove that the light was malfunctioning.

“Well if you proceeded with caution and did everything correctly,” said Coury. “Normally we would not be writing a citation for it, but if you were involved in an accident and then whether it was malfunctioning or not you would more than likely be found at fault. If you didn’t take the necessary precautions to proceed through the intersection.”

When a traffic light is malfunctioning, Coury asks that the Zanesville Police Department be notified by calling (740) 455-0700 so they can then proceed to have it fixed.