A Tale of Red-Light Cameras Gone Wrong

The town of Schaumburg, Ill., had a red-light-camera problem. Sure, the installed system at a single intersection netted almost $1 million in tickets, but it also enraged residents and visitors.

We have first-hand experience with the intersection in question, which it turns out isn’t even among Schaumburg’s 10 most dangerous intersections. The intersection in question has a separate right-turn lane with its own signal. The red-light camera was snapping away at people who were turning right on red but hadn’t come to a complete stop. Being ticketed for this benign traffic infraction riled pretty much everyone.

The city was smart enough to know that this was a sore spot and asked the monitoring company to not issue citations for that violation. That had to be done manually, though, and cost the company too much money.

The Schaumburg police studied traffic accidents at the intersection for a year’s time and found no significant accidents from running red lights before or after the cameras were installed. That was the final straw. Schaumburg didn’t renew its contract for the cameras, and they were taken down yesterday.

Red-light cameras in Schaumburg screech to a halt (Chicago Tribune)

Comments

This is a great day for those that believe in the due process of law.
Of course the reason they removed them had nothing to do their legality, just the fact that they have also proven to be ineffective (and in some regions actually INCREASE the rate of accidents), but still a great day.
Hopefully other municipalities follow suit.

in florida one could turn right even if it is red (unless told otherwise)and some cameras have been giving tickets when people turn right. and some people go to court and still have to pay ticket and court fees. ain't that great!

OK people you bunch of cry babies, turning right without coming to a stop is illegal much like coasting through a stop sign. I say bring the cameras back, it's a much better way to get revenue without resorting to increasing taxes.

john, it isn't illegal when the state says it isn't. the company had to manually change the ticket and ended up not the contract. is not like people were in revolt because their way of breaking the law was gone. they were following the law. and in florida one does not have to come to a complete stop.

Someday I hope a case gets all the way to SCOTUS and they just flat out declare these cameras Unconstitutional.

I wouldn't put stock in the SCOTUS. Just see the gross misinterpretation of eminent domain/taking clause-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._New_London
and the double speak of D.C. vs Heller-you have a right, but we can infringe upon it.
Redlight cameras are already banned in 14 states
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2769.asp

Anyway, it wouldn't need to get that high, just look at the 7th Amendment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
They are totally unlawful, and everyone knows the purpose it to raise money to pay for the insane spending of local government.
and the camera companies are going for broke-all or nothing. I vote for nothing.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-red-light-camera-16-jul16,0,7276985.story

For all you still driving where red light cameras are prevalent and costly, Escort has a radar detector that alerts you to the location of all red light cameras around the country. Check out the link above.

good