Does one sin if he runs a traffic light and causes an accident?

Question : This questioner from al-Qasim has coded his name with a thousand, a thousand, a thousand. He says: May Allah guide some of the young men, they run the traffic lights, and an accident may result from that. Does a person sin if an accident occurs or if a person dies as a result of that accident? I ask the Honorable Shaykh for an answer.

Answer : The one who runs the traffic light when it indicates a stop has disobeyed the one in authority. Disobeying the one in authority is disobedience to Allah the Exalted. This is based on the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He: . These lights indicate what the verbal commands indicate. So, if the sign indicating prohibition is shown, it is as if the one in authority is saying, "Stop," and the light takes the place of the verbal command. If someone happens to exceed it while the prohibition sign is showing and an accident results from it, he is considered negligent, indeed, a transgressor. He is liable for whatever that accident entails, such as an expiation, blood money, or compensation for injury.