Congratulations to the City of Rolling Meadows on the birth of their new R.E.D. (Revenue Enhancing Device) light camera at the northeast corner of Kirchoff and Plum Grove roads.

The camera is located to only take pictures of the westbound lanes of Kirchoff turning onto Plum Grove Road northbound. There are two right turn lanes and only one where one is allowed to take a right on red.

This is how the City of Rolling Meadows had the lanes marked after their two-year debacle of a construction project of that particular intersection.

The previous lane configurations had a left turn lane, a straight and right, and a right turn lane. The middle lane was allowed to take a turn on red as long as no one was going straight to block them. Not anymore, although some people still think they can due to the design of the right turn lanes.

Now there is a camera to catch those deleterious lawbreakers who are just trying to save 30 to 40 seconds of their time (the light is a minute to a minute and a half in length). 

There never seemed to be any problems at this intersection previously and there don't seem to be any presently. Having lived in Rolling Meadows almost 20 years I can't ever remember seeing a traffic accident at that intersection, can anyone else?

It would be nice to see some statistics to show that the R.E.D. light camera is there for safety reasons and not just solely for revenue. It if is for safety why isn't the whole intersection covered since blowing through a red light and causing a T-bone is much more deadly than a right turn on red.   

At $100 a pop, and in this economy, with people just trying to survive; then the municipalities feigning poverty?  I mean, c'mon! Enough is enough. Oh boy! Let's take more money out of people's pockets, that will help them to pay their taxes. I think not!

Once again, congratulations on your new Cash Cow, City of Rolling Meadows.

Jeffrey C. Laing

Rolling Meadows