The Light Is Red Owen refers to a series of dark memes making fun of the death of 14-year-old Utah resident Owen Harris, who ran a red light while riding an e-bike and was struck by a car.
The fatal crash happened on September 12th, 2026 and memes about the crash went viral over the following days on sites including TikTok and Instagram Reels. Some of the most popular memes make fun of Owen for running a red light and use versions of the phrase, "Yo Owen the light is red." The memes often use versions of the SpongeBob Driving Crazy format and Beast Boy driving crazy meme to represent Owen.
The memes sparked considerable backlash online for being insensitive to the death of Owen Harris.