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.

Those standards can apply to the enforcement line—in some cases directly at the stop line—as well as the movement necessary for a ticket. Duffy said vehicles which come to a complete stop over the line, in order to get a better view of traffic could be as liable for a ticket as cars that blow past the light.

The cameras have suffered a steep drop in legislative popularity. Lawmakers considered widely expanding the monitoring system across the state—a move which was expected to generate $1 billion in revenue.

The measure is attracting support from some in the law enforcement community, including Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, who served as Sheriff of Lee County for 20 years. Bivins feels mixing law enforcement with stirring up money for a municipality harms public safety.

“Generating revenue is not what we did, it was a byproduct of what we did in law enforcement,” he said. “To use law enforcement agency for that clouds judgment and discretion—which happens to be one thing a police officer has that cameras don’t.”

The system has drawn public ire for its rigid structure and mixed standards, which is why it is going by the wayside in other states. The Minnesota Supreme Court struck down the state’s red light camera system violated the due process rights of drivers.

The legislation is up for debate in a senate committee on Tuesday.