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http://www.pioneerlocal.com/highlandpark/news/3030768,highland-park-redlights-012711-s3.article

Illegal right turns on red generate bulk of revenue 
 

January 27, 2011

By CHARLES BERMAN This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Since nearly two-thirds of Highland Park's red light camera revenue has been collected from drivers caught making illegal right turns, a Northwestern University traffic expert said he is concerned the safety-motivated enforcement initiative has just become a municipal "money pump."

Highland Park's six-month-old red light camera program follows drivers making four different maneuvers at Park Avenue West and Skokie Highway, but about 65 percent of the revenue stream has been paid by violators caught making an illegal right turn on red, a Pioneer Press analysis has found.

The city's revenue reports mark those drivers as traveling at 0 mph, which police officials explained means the motorist came to a stop before violating the "No Turn on Red" sign.

Joseph Schofer, a professor of Civil Engineering and Transportation at Northwestern, said that the cameras were intended to reduce crossing "T-bone" crashes, which are considered to be much more dangerous.

"Right Turn on Red violations do increase pedestrian crashes, but if the cameras are merely generating tickets for Right Turn on Red where there were no crashes or near crashes, then they are just money pumps," said Schofer, who is also the associate dean for the University's Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Schofer said the substantial financial gain from writing tickets could become primary to traffic safety because private contractors run the programs.

In Highland Park's case, Sgt. Chris O'Neill scrutinizes every citation that Arizona-based Redflex Traffic Systems recommends. O'Neill has already denied 1,900 violations because of obstructed views of the license plate information, weather related factors, invalid camera activations or other police discretion.

"We should track the results to make sure they are producing the desired safety improvement and not generating unacceptable safety side effects," Schofer said. "We should be prepared to remove them where they are not doing their job. And we need some kind of dispassionate oversight to make sure the red light cameras are not merely money pumps, sort of traffic casinos that put money in the pockets of municipalities and, or vendors without regard to the safety benefits."

O'Neill said that right turn on red violation is just as worthy and safety-motivated as running a red light straight through the intersection. He added that the courts view both maneuvers similarly as well.

"We think non-compliance with established safety restrictions is a safety issue that leads to accidents," O'Neill explained. "That intersection has a lot of conflicts and non-compliance has contributed to accidents and has great a possibility to contribute to accidents."

O'Neill said that many of the right turn violators don't even stop and just speed right through the turn.

"People perceive that to be less egregious than going through a full light; however, those right turns on red are dangerous," added Dave Schwarz, Highland Park deputy police chief. "IDOT put those (No Turn on Red) signs in place years ago to prevent those right turns and people coming upon them at high rates of speed."

Highland Park residents Sandra Gordon and Mary Feldman have sent $100 checks to the city for the right turn on red violation.

"I stopped and there was nothing coming so I made a right turn," Feldman said. "What can I tell you? I goofed; it was my error. It absolutely says 'no turn on red.' It's clear as day.

"But there was nothing coming so I went," Feldman continued. "I won't make the mistake again.

"It's expensive."

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