Kudos to village for stance on cameras

I’ve been very critical of Barrington’s village government in the past. But right now, there’s one issue where leaders deserve all the credit I can give them: their decision not to jump on the greed bandwagon of red-light ticketing cameras.

We’ve seen this blight pop up on Palatine, Deer Park and other nearby towns. Companies like the foreign-based RedSpeed International tempt the cash-strapped local governments with easy money, offering to put the cameras up for free and splitting the take with the villages. The politicians don’t want to admit they need to pass a tax hike, so they hide behind the phony “safety” argument instead.

Then comes the hidden price of corruption. In some jurisdictions, governments have ordered the camera company to meet a ticket quota or face discipline. Worse, the National Motorists Association reports that cities have been caught unlawfully shortening their yellow-light times, so more motorists can be busted — which causes more accidents, not fewer, as motorists slam on the brakes.

Red-light cameras do nothing to make us safer. They set our own government against us, make our streets more dangerous and steal our money. I congratulate the Barrington village board and Village President Karen Darch for resisting this fool’s gold, and I hope they continue to hold the line in the future.

Tony Sterbenc

Barrington