Aurora, Naperville ready to turn on red-light cameras

Red-light enforcement cameras at three intersections in Aurora and two in Naperville are expected to go live by early October.

After a 30-day grace period, motorists who are caught by the cameras disregarding red lights will be fined $100.

In Aurora, the cameras are being installed at Commons Drive and East New York Street, Farnsworth Avenue and Molitor Road, and Farnsworth and East New York.

Police Chief Greg Thomas said he's confident the cameras will reduce accidents at the intersections, all three of which are among the top 30 crash sites in Aurora.

"The city has experienced an impressive decline in accidents so far this year, and that's good news," Thomas said. "The reason for the cameras is to improve safety and drive down accidents even further."

Neighboring Naperville already has cameras at the intersection of Route 59 and North Aurora Road that have been operational since January. The city is installing cameras at two additional intersections - Route 59 and Diehl Road and Ogden and Aurora avenues - to coincide with Aurora's installations.

The cameras will catch motorists entering the intersections after the light turns red. They then record several still photographs and a 12-second video clip of the violation. After being reviewed by three different trained technicians at REDFLEX, the company supplying the technology, the video is sent to police, who review it to determine if officers would have written a citation had they witnessed it.

If approved by the officer, a notice outlining the $100 fine is sent to the vehicle's owner within 20 days. The owner then has 21 days to either pay or contest the fine through an administrative hearing judge.

Drivers in Aurora will not, however, be ticketed for turning right on red unless officers reviewing the film determine a safety infraction.

"I'm not a big fan of issuing tickets for a right turn on red because I think there's a time and a place," Thomas said. "There's obviously the letter of the law and the spirit of the law and when an officer is writing a ticket he's able to use discretionary powers, but the camera does not do that."

The three targeted intersections in Aurora have accounted for 49 accidents this year through Aug 31. The intersection of Commons Drive and East New York Street is the top location for personal injury accidents with a total of seven. Nearly 40 percent of the accidents at that intersection resulted in injuries. Last year, there were a total of 118 accidents at the three intersections.

Last month, when aldermen approved the placement of the cameras by a 9 to 1 vote, Fourth Ward Alderman Rick Lawrence was the only opponent.

"It's obvious it doesn't work just based on REDFLEX's own business plan because our contract is based on the number of tickets and we figured it to be 33,000 tickets we need to send to even break even," Lawrence said. "If it actually reduced people running red lights, REDFLEX would go out of business. We fine people for everything around here and here we go again."

Daily Herald Staff Writer Melissa Jenco contributed to this report.