Glendale Heights adding red-light cameras

Add Glendale Heights to the growing list of towns using red-light cameras for traffic enforcement.

The village next year will install cameras at the intersection of North Avenue and Glen Ellyn Road.

Supporters say the cameras have made roads safer and resulted in a change of drivers' habits. But the cameras also have helped municipalities' bottom lines, causing some to question the motivation for camera installation.

Glendale Heights officials say the safety element is why they considered cameras.

“We've talked about it in Glendale Heights — the pros and cons — probably for at least three years,” Village Administrator Donna Becerra said. “We were waiting to see where things headed (with other towns) before we jumped in.”

The village board voted 4-2 this month to approve an agreement with Redflex Traffic Systems for operation of the system. The cameras won't be installed for another year, and Becerra said a public education campaign is expected to take place in the meantime.

Trustee Chester Pojack said he is “on the border” on the red-light camera issue in general, noting that he thinks ticketing drivers for right-on-red camera violations should be outlawed statewide.

A Daily Herald investigation in 2009 found that most red-light ticket offenses in suburban towns were for right-on-red violations — not for more dangerous driving incidents of going straight through intersections.

But Pojack also said he was convinced by a village board presentation about the cameras. Videos showed serious accidents that resulted from motorists running red lights, he said.