Chicago's Top 10 Most Ticketed Red-Light Camera Intersections

Thank you NBC for compiling this from the report in my previous post.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Chicagos-Top-10-Most-Ticketed-Red-Light-Camera-Intersections-207405581.html

1. Cicero and I-55
Number of tickets: 19,805
Value of tickets: $1,980,500

2. Lake Shore Drive and Belmont
Number of tickets: 16,273
Value of tickets: $1,627,300

3. LaFayette and 87th
Number of tickets: 15,226
Value of tickets: $1,522,600

4. Van Buren and Western
Number of tickets: 15,090
Value of tickets: $1,509,000

5. 95th and Stoney Island
Number of tickets: 11,449
Value of tickets: $1,144,900

6. Laramie and Madison
Number of tickets: 11,224
Value of tickets: $1,122,400

7. Stoney Island and 89th
Number of tickets: 9,644
Value of tickets: $964,400

8. State and 79th
Number of tickets: 8,769
Value of tickets: $876,900

9. Pulaski and Peterson
Number of tickets: 8,612
Value of tickets: $861,200

10. Cermak and Clark
Number of tickets: 7,923
Value of tickets: $792,300

Report of the Inspector General's Office - Red-Light Camera Installation Audit

This is a great report that just goes to show that safety isn't the number 1 priority of these red-light cameras.  Sure they couldn't prove that revenue wasn't the main purpose, but they did prove that safety wasn't.

From the letter to City Council:

Our audit’s findings can be summarized in two simple points.

 First, CDOT was unable to substantiate its claims that the City chose to install red-light cameras at intersections with the highest angle crash rates in order to increase safety. Neither do we know, from the information provided by CDOT, why cameras in locations with no recent angle crashes have not been relocated, nor what the City’s rationale is for the continued operation of any individual camera at any individual location.

 Second, our audit uncovered little evidence that the overarching program strategy, guidelines, or appropriate metrics are being used to ensure the RLC program is being executed to the best benefit of the City or the general public. Specifically, we found a lack of basic recordkeeping and an alarming lack of analysis for an ongoing program that costs tens of millions of dollars a year and generates tens of millions more in revenue.

I'll be curious to see how the Chicago Department Of Transportation (CDOT) responds to this audit.

To read the full report, click here or copy and paste the link below into your web browser.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/141433335/Chicago-Inspector-General-s-Office-Red-Light-Camera-Program-Audit

Cameras on School Buses

http://blogs.suntimes.com/politics/2013/04/bus_camera_plan_passes_senate_despite_city_red-light_camera_scandal.html

I guess this doesn't really surprise me, but I wonder how far this city is going to go with these cameras.

First we had red light cameras that give the owner of a car a $100 ticket if the car isn't at least halfway through an intersection when the light turns red (not really what I would call running a red light).

Then they started testing speed cameras that could cover a vast majority of the city that will issue $100 tickets to the owner of a car that is caught going 5mph over the speed limit in "school zones" or "park zones".

Now we are putting cameras on school buses to issue tickets to cars that don't stop when the stop sign is out  as children are entering and exiting the bus.

I wonder why we have police anymore.  If people are actually running red lights, speeding when children are present, or passing buses when the stop sign is out and putting children at risk, those people should get a ticket and it should go on their driving record so if they do it multiple times, their driver's license gets suspended.  You shouldn't just get what is equivalent to a parking ticket (who cares who was actually driving the car) that doesn't go on your record as long as you pay it.  This is all about revenue people.  If it was about safety, we would get more police on the streets, getting reckless drivers off the streets.