Report: Number of red-light camera tickets drop

Some municipal officials in Illinois are rethinking the use of red-light cameras as the number of tickets drops and groups question whether the cameras are effective in reducing crashes.

At least four Chicago suburbs have eliminated or deactivated their cameras, and others have seen a steady decrease in ticket revenue as drivers obey the traffic signals better — or just avoid the intersections with cameras.

Bellwood, the first Chicago suburb to install the cameras, brought in $1.1 million from motorists caught on camera running lights during the program's peak in 2008. This year, officials say net revenues are near $250,000. Officials had projected bringing in $1.5 million to $2 million a year.

"I don't think it ever got close," Bellwood chief of staff Peter Tsiolis told the Chicago Tribune for a story in Monday's editions. "If you are anticipating $1.5 million and get $250,000, yes, there is disappointment."

But some officials tout the drop in tickets as proof that the red-light cameras are making streets safer.

In Melrose Park, the number of violations has fallen from 14,000 in 2008 to 11,000 last year. So far in 2010, the village has had more than 7,000 through October. Village spokesman Nathan Brown said the drop is a good thing.

"The number is going down," Brown said. "The cameras obviously are working in terms of a public safety perspective."

But University of Illinois adjunct professor Rajiv Shah says he's studied the effectiveness of such cameras in Chicago and found that they don't nab the type of violators who cause the most serious crashes.

In Chicago, which has more red-light cameras than any other U.S. city, the number of accidents at 39 intersections with cameras increased 5 percent, according to Shah's research. Chicago collected $59 million in red-light ticket fines in 2009 and expects to bring in more this year after adding more cameras. The number of violations has decreased 50 percent.

The National Motorists Association opposes the cameras, saying they punish safe drivers instead of dangerous ones. Any decrease in violations is likely due to drivers avoiding the intersections with cameras, said association Executive Director Gary Biller.

"It's not that driver behavior is being modified," he said. "It's just that people avoid those areas."