[Schaumburg, IL] Red-light camera loses backer

Village may dump device after seeing no reduction in accidents

Bucking a national trend of putting in cameras to catch red-light runners, northwest suburban Schaumburg may get rid of its only red-light camera system because it doesn't do enough to prevent accidents.

"I think the camera should go," said Schaumburg Village President Al Larson. "It wasn't doing what it was supposed to do."

Village staff is expected to recommend eliminating the cameras to the public safety committee next week.

Last fall, Schaumburg installed red-light cameras at the busy corner of Woodfield and Meacham, near Woodfield Mall. The camera system quickly recorded 10,000 violations, each resulting in a $100 ticket. But 98 percent of the violations were by motorists who didn't stop before turning right on a red light, according to Schaumburg Police Chief Brian Howerton.

The village became concerned because the intersection -- which has a median separating through-traffic lanes and right turn lanes -- gives motorists the impression they're in a controlled right turn lane and don't have to stop, Howerton said.

"When you have numbers that high, people may be confused, even if the tickets were justified," Howerton said.

The village responded by getting rid of the two cameras that recorded right-turn and straight-through violations. Since then, the remaining cameras have recorded "very few violations" for illegal left turns, Howerton said.

Meanwhile, Schaumburg police studied the 10 intersections with the most accidents and found that only about 15 out of 800 collisions were caused by traffic signal violations. The majority were caused by failure to reduce speed, Howerton said.

Larson said the idea behind the cameras was never to generate revenue, but to improve safety.

"We're trying to be a town that's attractive to shoppers and tourists, and harassing them with red-light cameras when there's no justification from a public-safety standpoint just doesn't make sense," Larson said.

The City of Chicago, which has 143 red-light camera monitored intersections and plans to add 50 more this year, said the cameras have helped decrease accidents at those corners by 20 percent. Red-light cameras have pulled in $122 million for the city since they were first installed in 2003 through March of this year.

( read the orig article at http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/1643406,CST-NWS-... )