DuPage motorists catch breaks from red-light cameras

If you were unlucky enough to have to drive during the Blizzard of 2011 and happened to slide through a red light or two, chances are you’re off the hook.

Many DuPage County municipalities that use red-light camera technology at their intersections will not be issuing violations connected with the storm, some because they are giving motorists a break on the slick roads and others because the cameras weren’t operating properly in the weather conditions.

Aurora was one of the communities cutting drivers some slack during the blizzard. Sgt. Scott Mantzke said he issued a blanket denial of all infractions recorded between 2 p.m. Feb. 1 and 2 p.m. Feb. 2.

“We decided to give drivers the benefit of the doubt once the snow started falling like mad on Tuesday and the street markings likely became hidden,” Mantzke said. “And by Wednesday afternoon most people weren’t driving anyway and the streets were clear enough that those who were could see the markings.”

Winfield Acting Police Chief Stacy Reever said her department also began rejecting violations recorded the evening of Feb. 1 at Roosevelt and Winfield roads, “out of fairness.”

“We are rejecting any potential violations from 5 p.m. Tuesday through Wednesday,” she said. “We have three sergeants trained to view the footage but, out of fairness, if visibility was reduced, they’re not sending those violations forward.”

Carol Stream Deputy Chief Jerry O’Brien said drivers in that village also caught a break between Feb. 1 and 3 at the intersections of North and Gary avenues and North Avenue and Kuhn Road.

“Tuesday, after 2:40 p.m. when the snow really started flying, we had no violations recorded by the system. And we didn’t have any violations at all until late morning Thursday,” O’Brien said. “There may have been violations but due to conditions, they wouldn’t have been forwarded to us (by Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc).”

Naperville drivers also are getting a free pass, but not because police were in a generous mood. In fact, Sgt. Lee Martin said the cameras and violations may be more important during dangerous conditions.

“We do not make allowances for weather because poor weather conditions are when we’re most likely to see drivers making poor choices and driving too fast for conditions,” Martin said.

No tickets were issued, however, between 3:30 p.m. Feb. 1 and midday Feb. 2, Martin said, because poor visibility prevented the cameras from getting good photos.

Red-light cameras weren’t the only traffic enforcement technology affect by the poor visibility. Wood Dale’s Trax Guard system, which in 2009 filmed an average of 2.6 vehicles a day driving under or around rail crossing gates, also was knocked out of service.

“Poor visibility made it difficult to accurately note the violations,” Deputy Chief Greg Vesta said. “So we’re taking another look at any violations reported during (the storm) and making individual decisions, but it’s hard to see much of anything when the snow was falling so fast.”