JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said it is trying to keep the streets safer by getting drivers to slow down and stop running red lights.

Investigators said Floridians are among the worst in the country when it comes to paying attention to the traffic signals. Now, JSO said it is cracking down on red light runners around the city.

Along with the JSO, the Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Highway Patrol and the Institute of Police Technology and Management will join law enforcement and traffic safety agencies across the country to kick off national Stop on Red Week -- Aug. 4-11 -- drawing attention to the potentially deadly consequences of running a red light.

According to the JSO, running red lights causes a third of all intersection crashes. In 2005, the latest year for which statistics are available, there were 96 fatalities and 6,300 injuries in Florida as a result of crashes involving red light running.

"In fact, in the state of Florida we had 96 -- that was 11 percent of the entire country right here in the state of Florida," Sheriff John Rutherford said. "Almost half of us will admit to running a red light at some time or another."

Police said eight fatalities in 2006 in Jacksonville could be blamed on either running a light or a stop sign.

The sheriff said the number of red-light-running fatalities could be reduced if drivers follow some simple advice: "When the light turns yellow, it does not mean speed up to see if you can make it. It means slow down."

Drivers throughout Jacksonville are encouraged to become more mindful of their own behavior at intersections.

"Nobody likes a red light runner. They endanger themselves and others. They must be penalized," an FHP trooper said.