Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kris Hendry on March 23, 2015 at 5:23pm

They found several thousand of the "Red Light" tickets to be under the Federal mandated minimum of 3 seconds. The city of Chicago basically stole money from hard working people.

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Permalink Reply by Chitown_Mike on March 24, 2015 at 10:33am

Wait, Chicago steal from the backs of the people.....never!  /sarcasm

The city has made about a grand over the last several years off my wife who travels and works in the city.  She just got another ticket a week or so ago.

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Permalink Reply by Jordan M S on March 24, 2015 at 10:38am

Keep it coming ;)

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 24, 2015 at 12:17pm

I got burned one time trying to turn left by the cameras.  Belmont and Kedzie going northbound.  What a ridiculous intersection. I got screwed by a cab that was just sitting there at the curb on the other side of the intersection southbound, who decided to make a break for it after I entered the intersection on a green and just before I was turning left blasted straight.  I had to slam on the brakes and stop in the middle of the intersection or hit him. Light turns yellow for the briefest of  instants as I sat there, and then red.  Flash-flash-flash $98 fine please, came in the mail.  How neighborly.  

I just don't go that way any more. Learned where all the redlight cameras are and just avoid them if at all possible if I have to turn left at that intersection.  

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Permalink Reply by David Barish on March 24, 2015 at 11:11am

My problem with red light cameras apart from the many good reasons already stated in this discussion is that I don't think failure to stop is a large problem. Most drivers do stop. I find it very rare that somebody blows off a stop light. Usually, that person is a distracted driver, has some personal problem or simply screwed up and hopefully lived to tell about it. The bad behavior we see rarely has to do with failure to stop. Also, as a cyclists I find it a little hypocritical to have a red camera. Why? the camera faults a driver who has slowed down, looked, checked everything but perhaps rolled a bit and not come to a complete stop before making that right turn. Behavior that 99% of us do 99% of the time we are on the bike. Sure, that person is driving a large metal machine that can kill people but I am not describing predatory behavior. This began as a plague in the suburbs where scores of tickets were written with the intent to make money and no intent to make roads safer. As already discussed, that is what  is happening here in the big city. 

I assume most of us agree that we want people to obey traffic laws, to be courteous to others on the roads, to operate as if the road is not their personal domain. I prefer to have intelligent beings (Police officers) making those decisions when enforcing the rules. 

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Bruzan on March 25, 2015 at 2:28am

 Mostly it's people that stop past the line so they can watch for traffic from the left, or gently roll through a right on red. The ticket's in the mail.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Chillson on March 26, 2015 at 6:06am

 I'm an Old Testament kind of guy. If I get hurt or killed at an intersection I want the dude who did it to be caught and put in the stocks.

I think traffic cameras are a good way to make sure a hit-n-runner gets theirs, but cameras can't take the place of real police. 

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Permalink Reply by David Barish on March 26, 2015 at 6:36am

This is an interesting side effect of the cameras. They see everything at the intersection and that data can be captured for reasons other than giving a ticket. They can see who ran over somebody, or perhaps who did some other bad act at the intersection. Those of us who read 1984 long  before the date on the book are a bit creeped out by this (They are watching us...) but it does do some good. 

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Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on March 26, 2015 at 7:47am

The 'big brother' cameras are what you guys are talking about, right? They will always be there. There are many 'types' of cameras at most intersections. Just look up and you'll see them. They see you !

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Permalink Reply by Tricolor on March 26, 2015 at 9:25am

The red light cameras only take snapshots, and the sensors are only active for about fifteen seconds after the light turns red. So it's not the same as say the police cameras with flashing lights. Unless a biker is also running the light, passing a right turning car on the right (or is running the light on the cross street since intersections have a period of red all around), there's not much chance a picture would catch a collision.

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Permalink Reply by Kris Hendry on March 26, 2015 at 8:06pm

tricolor, so the blue light crime cameras are somehow different than the red light/speed cameras??

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Permalink Reply by Tricolor on March 27, 2015 at 8:54am

The police cameras are like the common CCTV systems that both passively record surroundings and can be operated remotely to watch a specific person or location. There was an incident a few years ago where an operator was watching a loud party with the camera, then swung it away when the police arrived and had it look at a wall, so there was no way to confirm or deny complaints filed against the CPD.

The red light cameras are triggered by sensors that also trip a flash to get a single image. Some places may have a combination system but the single shot would be cheaper so I'll bet that's more common.

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