Going Hollywood with red-light videos could make everyone happy

I arrived at the Wheeling police station thinking Sgt. Mike Porzycki had a tedious job.

After all, where's the fun in watching hundreds of videos of sloppy drivers?

But after a while, I had to admit there's a reality TV show fascination that grows on you watching grainy video after grainy video of rolling rights.

Porzycki, the Wheeling Police Department's traffic unit supervisor, invited me for a viewing of red-light violations captured by surveillance cameras.

The invite came as a result of colleague Joe Ryan and my "Seeing Red" series that examined the proliferation of red-light cameras in the suburbs.

We found that cameras can be a useful tool to identify dangerous drivers, but questions remain about whether they're being applied judiciously at certain locations by local governments. Or to quote philosopher Uncle Ben in "Spiderman - "with great power comes great responsibility."

Our research showed the vast majority of tickets go to people turning right on red - a maneuver many experts say isn't as hazardous as left turns or going straight through on reds.

We also learned numerous cameras are installed at or planned for intersections with minimal red-light related crashes. As a result, state lawmakers are considering revising the law.

Back to Sgt. Porzycki. Camera vendors initially screen the images and then dispatch them to police officers like him to make the final call whether to issue a $100 ticket.

"I know public sentiment is that there's one big red approval button and they send us 1,000 violations and we hit 'yes,'" Porzycki said. "The reality is we are reviewing them and are taking into account all the different factors."

I sit in front of the computer and the show begins, starring the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Dundee Road. Porzycki looks at various issues, including whether pedestrians or bicyclists are present, what the weather is and how far into the red the infraction occurred.

"This tells me the light was red for 51.6 seconds when the violation occurred," he says, pointing to an image. "It also shows how long the yellow was."

Some drivers get a pass. "Here we have someone who goes through without stopping," Porzycki says, watching as a driver crawls right. "He goes through two crosswalks - but there's no pedestrians and the speed is not horrible.

"Technically, is that a violation of the red-light law? Absolutely. But given the circumstances - no pedestrians, no cross traffic, the speed is not excessive - we didn't have a dangerous situation here. I'm going to reject it," he concludes, clicking a "safe turn on red" category.

Porzycki also has the option of sending the driver a warning letter. So even though the driver won't pay a $100 fine, the village will have to pay a $5.99 processing fee.

Another right-turn violation comes up for Porzycki's scrutiny.

"Here's a guy going less than 5 mph ... he never comes to a stop ... but it's not a dangerous situation. It appears he slows down," he says and dismisses the violation.

Other drivers aren't so lucky.

"I can see a pedestrian coming this way and there's left turners, so it's more of a situation," Porzycki says, approving the citation.

In another case, "you see the yellow arrow changing to red ... there's no brake lights whatsoever - they're just going right through," he notes. The video shows a yellow arrow lasting 4 seconds, so if the car is traveling at 30 mph that means about 45 to 50 feet per second or "plenty of time" to slow, Porzycki says. "When someone doesn't even attempt to hit the brakes, I'll issue a citation."

I would give the Oscar to a video of a motorist who gets tired of waiting at a red light behind another car and drives up on the sidewalk to make his turn.

"He asked for a hearing," Porzycki says, adding that the driver - like a lot of motorists - hadn't looked at the video initially.

Porzycki gets backup in video reviews from traffic Officer Chris Parr, an accident investigator.

I watched her reaction to two action-packed videos of drivers blowing straight through red lights at Palatine and Wheeling roads.

"That's a violation and that one's kind of blatant," she comments, adding it's probably a DUI to boot.

One image has a glitch. "There's no question in my mind they didn't stop," Parr says. "But see how it blurs there and blurs here... I'll give them the benefit of the doubt."

In another, a woman who is turning right slowly on red has a near-miss with another driver turning left illegally from the Palatine express lanes.

"Just because they're express lanes doesn't mean people aren't turning," Parr says, approving the citation.

Before I go, Porzycki looks over copies of appeals by mail. He notes one big reason people give for being found not guilty is that there was no sign prohibiting right turns on red - not a viable excuse.

On average, he rejects 40 percent of violations and approves 60 percent.

"A red light camera is a tool that if used in the right way, in the right situation with the right discretion - it can change driving habits for the better," Porzycki says.

After an afternoon watching these addictive videos, I came up with a brainwave.

Instead of sending out $100 tickets for rolling rights, municipalities could televise the infractions on their local cable stations. Call it "Drivers behaving badly." You could sell ads to traffic lawyers and tow truck companies and maybe ShamWow - and make so much money - you could send out cash prizes to good drivers instead of fining bad ones.

I hope it gets a green light.