Friant Roulette is a live stream available 24/7 on YouTube that shows the Fresno intersection of Friant Ave and East Shepherd Ave. Notorious for red light runners at all four corners, a father and son duo (Dan Wells and son) in the adjacent neighborhood decided a few years ago to mount high resolution cameras on the cement wall of their backyard that points right at the intersection.
Almost overnight, their YouTube channel was an instant hit.
Why? Because motorists in Fresno LOVE to run red lights.
When I first moved to the Fresno area in 2012, a local who grew up here warned me: “Be careful of red light runners, dude. We have more of them here than anywhere else.”
I quickly realized he wasn’t exaggerating. Prior to my move, I was living in Seattle for several years and before that, the Bay Area. Compared to those two metropolitan areas, Fresno people really do drive much faster and much crazier.
Anyway, if you find yourself on the Friant Roulette channel… just a word of caution—be prepared to be gripped with both excitement and anxiety as you watch the channel live just waiting for something to happen. Sounds bad, but that’s why it was created.