Drivers better be on best behavior on stretch of Rand Road
While red-light cameras are frequently popping up at intersections across the suburbs, a stretch of Rand Road from Palatine to Lake Zurich should become a real attention grabber for drivers.
Five photo-enforced intersections are planned for about 5.5 miles of Rand Road, a popular path for daily commuters, shoppers and those heading to northern weekend getaway spots in the Chain O' Lakes and Wisconsin.
That 5.5-mile stretch would have been in line for a sixth red-light camera at Rand and Lake-Cook Road in Deer Park, officials said, but that recently was scrapped because of an inability to find a spot allowing for a clear image of violators.
About 110,000 vehicles travel that stretch of Rand daily, said Kildeer Police Chief Jeffrey Lilly, whose village is ready to activate one of the five red-light cameras at Quentin Road.
Lilly said the camera cluster on Rand Road, also known as Route 12, is needed to reduce the 600 to 800 traffic crashes annually.
"It's a way to pay for 24-hour enforcement without paying for a 24-hour-a-day officer," said Lilly.
Drivers headed north on Rand will encounter the first camera when it's up at Dundee Road, then another already running less than a mile away at Hicks Road - both in Palatine. Motorists get a break for almost 2 miles before reaching the Quentin Road camera in Kildeer.
Lake Zurich will have the next camera 2.3 miles away at June Terrace. The last one of the cluster will be less than a mile away at Route 22.
Two orange flags have been installed with signs warning of the red-light cameras at Hicks and Quentin. Lilly said the flags are a temporary measure because the photo-enforced intersections are so new.
Palatine police Cmdr. Kurt Schroeder said the three villages didn't make a concerted effort to install the cameras on Rand Road.
But red-light camera opponent Matthew Hoffman, a traffic-case attorney from Chicago, said Rand Road represents a money making opportunity for Palatine, Kildeer and Lake Zurich more than improving intersection safety. Violators typically are dinged with $100 tickets, which aren't moving violations.
Hoffman, who handles cases in Lake and Cook counties, said courts across the country have upheld the use of the cameras. He said that means residents who don't like photo enforcement should complain to their local elected officials or pursue a ballot measure prohibiting the cameras.
"The only way to ultimately stop this or check it is in the voting booth," Hoffman said.
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