Despite Scandal, Rahm Says The Red Light Cameras Are Here To Stay

By Kate Shepherd in News on Jan 26, 2016 7:24PM

The intersection of Cicero Avenue, Milwaukee Avenue, and Irving Park Road is the one and only "six corners. (Photo credit: Mel

The unpopular red light cameras aren't going anywhere despite all of the controversy surrounding the program.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he won't remove the red light cameras, according to the Sun-Times. He fired the firm at the center of the bribery scandal in 2013.

"The corruption is about how the firm got this contract, and we've made changes in the firm and in the operations of that contract," the mayor said, according to the newspaper.

The cameras have made the streets safer, according to Emanuel.

"It still plays a role in safety on our streets as it relates to side crashes," he said. "That data is pretty clear. But when the first questions were about the firm and how they got awarded that contract prior to my administration, we sent them out the door."

Emanuel removed 20 percent of the despised cameras prior to the April 7 mayoral run-off election, as his challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia was promising to the end the program.

And the safety of the cameras is debatable. A 2014 study of the cameras showed that their shorter yellow light timing might make them less safe by increasing the chances of rear-end crashes. And a recent Daily Herald study of similar red light cameras in the suburbs also showed mixed results.