SPRINGFIELD
– The red light cameras that have irked drivers across the state could
be going by the wayside under a news senate proposal.
Sen. Dan
Duffy, R-Barrington, is trying to remove red light cameras from all
intersections in the state with the exception of railroad crossings and
construction zones.
Sen. Rickey Hendon, D-Chicago, joined Duffy
in calling for a repeal of the cameras. He said the traffic monitoring
system is not about keeping the road safe, but the $1 billion the state
could make through expanding the system.
“If it was about public
safety the ticket would follow the driver, but instead it follows the
vehicle,” he said. “Anyone could be driving that car — they don’t learn
a lesson…if the owner of the car gets a ticket, not the driver, so it’s
clearly about gouging the public.”
The monitoring system
automatically issues traffic tickets to car owners whose vehicles cross
intersection lines. The owners are then forced to arrange their own
court date, which is overseen by a hearing officer, rather than jury.
Duffy said the mixed standards of the cameras in towns and cities across the state make the program too tough on drivers.
“There
are no set standards for the red light cameras in each town, so every
town can generate tickets based off of a different criteria,” he said.
