Wheeling IL police defend red-light cameras

Wheeling IL traffic police sought to justify their use of red-light cameras at a public forum Wednesday night.

With two Wheeling trustees on the record saying the cameras should be nixed, police defended their practice of mailing thousands of $100 tickets to motorists who fail to come to a complete stop before making a legal right turn on a red light.

Wheeling and the RedSpeed Illinois Co. of Lombard started mailing red light tickets in April 2009 from cameras stationed at the corners of Wheeling and Palatine roads and Milwaukee Avenue and Dundee Road.

Sgt. Paul Hardt, supervisor of Wheeling police’s traffic unit, and Traffic Officer Chris Parr said RedSpeed keeps the majority of red-light proceeds and the tickets “are not a big moneymaker” for the village.

The cameras has resulted in an average of 630 tickets per month, Hardt said.

RedSpeed charges fees for transmitting video information and has different fees for collecting ticket payment via phone, internet or check. The village must also pay for camera servicing, installation and maintenance and payments for lawyers who act as judges handling ticket appeals. By the time all these fees are paid, Wheeling is lucky to receive 40 to 50 percent of the ticket proceeds, village officials said.

Hardt said the amount payments Wheeling receives from RedSpeed varies dramatically from month to month because of the complicated system of fee charges.

“A lot of people think this is a big money generator for us, but it’s really not,” Hardt said.

In fact, it took about three months after the cameras were activated for Wheeling to receive any revenue at all as RedSpeed since the company was permitted to keep proceeds to cover installation costs.

As for the violations, Parr said drivers must beware it is required to make a full stop before turning right on a red light. A complete stop is defined as “the complete cessation of motion of all four tires.”

Parr said many drivers mistakenly believe that if there are no other cars or pedestrians around, they don’t need to stop fully before making a right turn on red.

Retiree David Smith, 80, and was one of several Wheeling residents who attended Wednesday’s meeting. He said he supports the use of red-light cameras for safety reasons. He recalls several instances on Hintz Road when cars pulled out in front of him at red lights and he feels if cameras are there, that could assist safety.

“If people are breaking the law they need to be caught,” he said.

However, Smith also said he doesn’t feel it is appropriate for the cameras to be used as moneymakers solely for the purpose of generating revenue.

Wheeling red-light cameras are placed at the second- and third-most crash-prone intersections. The most dangerous intersection has stop signs, not traffic lights.

Originally, Wheeling planned to install cameras at five intersections. But the other three most dangerous Wheeling intersections fall under the jurisdiction of Cook County, meaning the county would have to approve the cameras and would receive revenue from them. Wheeling declined to move forward.

Despite the proliferation of red-light cameras, suburbs including Lombard and Schaumburg have removed them. Schaumburg officials determined that camera-issued tickets for right turns on red lights weren’t improving safety as the intersection in question.

Park Ridge is also looking at removing red-light camera.

Red-light violations are not official moving violations and do not affect driving records or auto insurance history. The tickets are mailed to the owner of registered vehicles, not the drivers.

Those receiving the tickets can appeal to a court adjudicator.

Wheeling traffic police argued their case Wednesday night, saying crashes are down and traffic officers spend three hours per day watching violation video footage. They said if they wanted, they could be mailing out far more tickets than they do. For example, in May, there were a total of 36,000 red-light “flashes” or potential violations. Of those, 2,300 tickets were mailed, police said.

“We take traffic safety seriously,” Parr said. “I have knocked on too many doors after accidents and told people their loved ones aren’t among coming home. If there is anything we can do to help prevent people from getting hurt or killed, we are going to do it.”