Four sent to hospital after serious crash on Hwy 94

Police saythe crashhappened because of high speeds and failing to follow a very basic traffic law.

It’s a basic rule. A red light means stop.

“One of the vehicles was southbound ran the red light,” said Sgt. Inazu of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

He said in Colorado Springs, it happens a lot.

“That’s one of the biggest causes of traffic accidents in this city is a violation of a traffic light. People don’t realize that the little bit of extra time that’s needed to run that red light is going to get them in an accident,” said Inazu.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, running red lights is the leading cause of urban crashes across the country. Itaccounted for more than 800 fatalities in 2008.

“At this point, especially because of the amount of damage to the vehicles, they were obviously moving pretty quickly. There’s suspicion of internal injuries and some evident injuries as well,” said Inazu.

Witnessessaid the car that ran the red lighthad its hazards on and they believe the driver was rushing to the hospital.

“If your emergency is so important that you believe you have to start violating traffic laws to get to the hospital, its best to pull over and just call 9-1-1 and then an ambulance can come,” said Inazu.

This isn’t the first times crews have beento this intersectioncleaning up. Police say high speeds in the area cause very serious accidents.

“Opposite directions. 65 mph and 45mph,that’s going to be some significant damage if they collide. As far as I understand it’s not because of the frequency but because of the speeds. When it does happen the accidents are typically more severe,” said Inazu.