Going To SFGAm Any Time Soon? Beware

[The Interpreter]

Gurnee About to Debut Red Light Cameras:

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=286263&src=3

[dare-to-fly]

Gurnee About to Debut Red Light Cameras:

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=286263&src=3

Thanks for the heads up on something that should be, and sometimes is, illegal. Though I'm not in the habit of running red lights.

[Dvo]

I live in the Chicago suburbs, and I can tell you that the red-light cameras are EVERYWHERE up there. Virtually every major intersection has them. It's getting pretty bad.

[luff]

By my workplace they just turned off one red light camera for public outrage. It collected over $1 million from November to January. Over 95% were for not coming to a complete stop on a right turn on red.

[The Interpreter]

What bothers me about these things is most are owned by private companies (as is the one in Gurnee) and the company gets a commission on each collected ticket in return for providing the equipment. In many jurisdictions, such tickets often do not hold up if challenged in court, which most drivers/owners do not do. It's perilously close to a racket, if it isn't. And many places greatly cut the time the caution light is on when these are installed. Some statistics indicate accidents increase as drivers abruptly brake to avoid a ticket.

[windshawne]

They're outrageous. I avoid areas that have them-and one person Iknow that challenged it, won the case. So why bother with it?

All they do is increase rear ending accidents

[The Interpreter]

They make tons of money as most will not challenge them, but meekly pay up. And not all challenges are successful.