Police can run red lights when heading to emergencies but why do so many Christchurch drivers think they can do the same? (Video first published in January 2019)

"Impatient" Christchurch motorists are running more than five red lights a minute, contributing to a quarter of all crashes in the city.

A survey by the Christchurch Transport Operations Centre (CTOC) at 15 city intersections found red lights were ignored 8170 times in just 24 hours, or 340 times per hour.

The count on November 29 was an increase on the 7827 offences recorded in 2017.

GEORGE HEARD/STUFF A mufti police car runs the light at the Colombo St and Moorhouse Ave intersection.

The worst intersection was where Curletts Rd met Main South Rd with 861 offences. An elderly couple died in a crash at this intersection in November 2011.

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Canterbury road policing manager Inspector Ash Tabb said impatience was the main reason drivers ran red lights.

"[The drivers] really don't think they can wait another light cycle when in reality it's going to make a 30 to 40 second difference in their travel, which is nothing."

The Canterbury Region: Road Safety Report 2013-2017, written by transport consultants Abley in early-2018 confirmed red-light running was "prevalent".

It said the lack of controlled right turns contributed to the high level of crashes.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF The intersection of Main South and Curletts roads recorded the most red light runners with 861 in 24 hours.

The report found half (52 per cent) of injury crashes in Christchurch were at intersections, far above the national average of 37 per cent.

Both right turning against traffic crashes and intersection crashes were proportionally over-represented in Christchurch compared to the national average.

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Managing director Steve Abley said Christchurch's grid-based design meant it had a large number of right-angled intersections.

If they all had right-turn arrows, congestion would go up dramatically and so too would red-light running as drivers became frustrated. .

Increased congestion would see more red-light running as people would be less tolerant of delays, Abley said.

GEORGE HEARD/STUFF The intersection of Ilam Rd and Memorial Ave had 527 red light runners in the 24-hour survey.

Abley said there was a trade-off between providing right-turn arrows to increase safety and maximising traffic flow.

Safety could be improved by reducing speed limits and limiting turn movements.

A report by traffic engineering consultants ViaStrada noted motorists running red lights accounted for about 35 per cent of all injury crashes in Christchurch, many of which related to motorists waiting to turn right.

GEORGE HEARD/STUFF The intersection of Moorhouse Ave and Colombo St had 807 cars run the red light in 24 hours in November.

Mark Pinner, then Christchurch City Council's acting head of transport, told Stuff in May that traffic signal crashes were "close to a quarter of all crashes in the city, with a social cost of about $27 million per year".

Last year, the Christchurch City Council installed a camera at the Madras St and Bealey Rd intersection to monitor red light running.

Transport operations manager Steffan Thomas said steps were being taken to allow the camera to be used to give out tickets to offenders.

Thomas said the council was considering what other steps could be taken to reduce red light running.

He said the council had analysed all right-turn crashes so it could prioritise the installation of right-turn signals.

THE 10 INTERSECTIONS WITH THE MOST RED LIGHT RUNNERS