Schaumburg camera a national newsmaker

Several weeks ago, Schaumburg Trustee George Dunham asked how a village with only one red-light camera intersection could generate so much media coverage of the fact.

Though his question came just after Schaumburg dropped its controversial camera for right turns at Meacham and Woodfield roads, the media coverage didn't end.

Last week's Wall Street Journal article on red light cameras opened with the example of Schaumburg and the $1 million in fines its camera generated in just 21/2 months.

The article's basic theme was the spread of cameras to catch driving violations and the effect it's had on driver behavior.

The story touched on places including Arizona, Connecticut, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

But it returned to Schaumburg to quote Dunham himself denying that an expectation of high revenues had played any role in the motivation to install the cameras.