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Citing a lack of results, the city of Schaumburg is getting rid of the one red light camera they had installed. Curious to see how the cameras worked, the city installed one at a particularly busy intersection close to Woodfield Mall. What happened next led to the eventual decision to scrap plans for more.
Like other municipalities, Schaumburg began issuing $100 tickets in November to those found blowing the red light, generating some 7,000 tickets by the end of 2008, according to the Daily Herald. By February, that number climbed to over 10,000 and $1 million in revenue. Apparently very few accidents were prevented, however, and the city got numerous angry phone calls from citizens and tourists alike, resulting in the camera being switched off in February."The result is very few crashes at any of our major intersections have been the result of traffic signal violations," Police Chief Brian Howerton told the Herald. He reiterated that other cities may want to change driver behavior by using tickets to force drivers to stop, but Schaumburg's goal was always to prevent collisions. As a result, Howerton is recommending the city take down the camera and not install any more. "It was not our intent to use them as a revenue generator," Mayor Larson added.
There are, however, rumblings that it was a move so as not to upset out-of-towners who frequent the mall. [Ars Technica via Windy Citizen]
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"It was not our intent to use them as a revenue generator."
Oh come on.
They "got numerous angry phone calls from citizens and tourists alike"? And I'm presuming those complaints were along the lines of "How dare you catch me blowing the red light and fining me for this moving violation?"
How do you muster up the balls to complain about being CAUGHT running a red light? And who could listen to that complaint without doubling over in laughter?
I got popped at the Harlem and Roosevelt camera last fall because I didn't come to a complete stop at the light before I turned right. At 1:30 am. With no one on the road but me. I didn't make an angry phone call to anyone, but I did right "revenue generation masquerading as a public service" in the memo field of the check I sent. Fuckers.
Point is that it's not just the red light runners who get hurt by these things.
I read somewhere else that, I believe, over 95% of their tickets were because of this, and that is why it's being removed (or turned off) in Schaumburg.
Do you now stop at red lights? Or just look for the cameras as you pull up to intersections?
Fail to obey the light, and you should get a ticket. As a pedestrian, I'm tired of cars zipping through red lights. And turning when they shouldn't. I say give them all tickets.
Make the lights fair and I'd agree. The light on my commute has shortened it's yellow since installing the camera a few years ago. If you hit the light at the right time, you either have to slam on your breaks or step on it and recklessly try to beat the split second of yellow. It's b.s., and I say that as a biker, pedestrian *and* driver. It's all about revenue, nothing else. If they wanted to stop recklessness the cops could do their job and give people tickets once in a while. As it is people know they can pretty much do anything short of driving on the sidewalk and cops don't care.
I feel like some old codger, "When I was a kid ..." But in the time I've lived here, it really seems like the red light problem not only has gotten worse, but it's just gotten stupidly blatant. It's not people pushing it; I've watched people completely have a light turn yellow, turn red, and watch them speed up and still decide to go through a light that was decisively red for at least a beat. That is, my light had already turned green and I had the walk sign.
That's 100% blowing a red light. That's 100% a moving violation. I just can't imagine what people are thinking. They've had to see the yellow, because when they're right at the crosswalk, the light is already red. I know people never used to drive like that until very recently.
Same with the left hand turn stuff. We all know the rules for 'cheating' on that sort of thing. But when the car in front of you is out in the intersection and takes the yellow going into red, you don't get to just use a beat of red light to also make a left hand turn. Once again, that's blowing a red light.
These are the people who should definitely be getting tickets. And in some cases, $100 is not even enough money.
And out come the "I never ride in a *sniff* CAAHHHHRRRR" crowd. Cars exist, good laws should be enforced well to govern them, regardless of how up your own ass you want to be about the internal combustion engine.
Red Light cameras are FAIL because they cause people to stop short/suddenly, causing accidents. That's right at the top, moving down on the list of why they're bad idea. Don't believe me? Here's five studies (including one from the House of Representatives) to back that up)
http://www.motorists.org/blog/red-light-cameras-increase-accidents-5-studies-that-prove-it/
-Automated law enforcement: Red light cameras presume guilt. You can't challenge them in court except on vary narrow grounds, which have been found in a number of court cases to be constitutionally dubious.
-Revenue Generation by negative means: Relying on sin taxes and fines is a lazy way to govern.
Bitch all you want, but give it up to the citizens of Schaumburg...they got organized and turned something around in their favor against the government's wishes.
Let's see Andersonville yuppies and Wicker Park hipsters try that shit.
Or guys with Noel Gallagher haircuts.....
Bitch all you want, but public safety is a legitimate function of local government. The village government is a bunch of wimps for not promoting public safety in this instance. In safety training, we were taught not to prevent accidents but to elimate unsafe behaviors thus eliminating the cause of the accident. A driver running a red light is an unsafe behavior, what ensues can not be an "accident" in the strictest sense because, it is the result of a willful act. Levying fines is a good way to modify unsafe behaviors.
Stopping at a red light is not "stopping short."
Assuming a lack of tampering (no shortening of yellows, and at least a .5 second threshold on red), I am all for red light cameras. Unfortunately, the temptation to use them as revenue generators is too strong.
And in Chicago we're paying for the tickets CTA bus drivers rack up. The sole purpose is to generate revenue. The short yellows have caused me to slam on the brakes a few times. Plus there's the tension that I feel now when I approach one of these intersections. Look behind you to make sure you're not being tailgated. Slow down as you approach the intersection in case you hit the sweet spot and have to slam on the brakes. And judging by the multiple flashes going off at Sheridan and Hollywood, I don't think they deter anything. They simply make money and that intersection's as dangerous for the little old ladies as it's always been. There's jagoff intent to blow a red light and then there's just being a human being and making a mistake. These cameras punish everyone. And a hundred dollars is a lot of money for some people to have to shell out. If the city really wanted to generate some revenue AND make everyone safer they'd enforce the law and ticket people (with points too) for the lawless behavior that goes on. That goes for the reckless weaver in a Mercedes I saw on Peterson last night and the four idiots standing in the middle of Western Ave., jaywalking by Warren Park.