Is the end near for red light cameras in Kane County?

The end of red-light cameras on Kane County roads may be near.

The county board will host a series of public hearings on the tickets motorists love to hate in coming weeks as officials consider whether the cameras are reducing accidents as intended.

Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay directed the board's Transportation Committee to begin a thorough examination of exactly how existing red-light cameras on county roads have performed since officials began allowing them about two years ago.

Only St. Charles, Geneva, South Elgin and Elgin have installed them so far.

"Our office is getting complaints about the cameras that are getting installed," McConnaughay said. "Frankly, our citizens don't like this. They see it as unnecessarily punitive.

"Public safety has become completely overshadowed by the fact that this has become a hidden tax," she added. "We've seen a lot of evidence of abuse. I do think it's time for you to take stock."

Part of the impetus for the county study is signs in Springfield that state lawmakers may also be feeling the heat of public dissatisfaction over the cameras.

Kane County is keeping an eye on a bill that passed the Illinois Senate last week and now advances to the House; it would make statewide changes to the use of red-light cameras, including a ban on tickets issued solely to drivers who stop but cross the stop line at an intersection when no pedestrians or bicyclists are present. The bill also would require a statistical analysis of every red-light camera's proven ability to reduce accidents at an intersection.

Kane County already has a similar review in place at the front end of the permitting process. The county has denied six requests for cameras because there was no evidence that a significant number of crashes have occurred at the requested intersections. The county is suspending applications for new red-light cameras while it reviews the existing cameras.

Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Wyatt agreed with McConnaughay that the time had come to reconsider the cameras and give the public a chance to weigh in. Wyatt has not yet set the time or dates for the public hearings. The number and location of the hearings likely will depend on the amount of feedback at the first public hearing.