DuPage County considers traffic cameras

DuPage County may join the growing number of towns keeping a watchful eye on scofflaws.

County board members Tuesday looked at options related to installing cameras at intersections to catch people running red lights.

"They are effective in reducing accidents when properly applied," county engineer Chuck Tokarski said, noting that cameras can create a 50 percent reduction in red-light violations.

But he added, "This is in the early stages and we need to be looking at it in detail. What we're doing here is treading slowly."

Some of the details to be examined include figuring out the enforcement component. And where to put the cameras.

Surveillance cameras are cropping up around the collar counties and, on Monday, Gurnee and Carol Stream officials separately voted to install red-light systems.

Board member Debra Olson asked if the cameras could cause rear-end accidents because of people suddenly slowing down.

That may happen, officials said, but the hope is eventually people driving problem intersections grow accustomed to the warnings.

"These will be accompanied by signage," Tokarski said. "We don't just throw the cameras up."

Board member Grant Eckhoff added, "As the public becomes more aware, rear-end collisions go down."

Board member Paul Fichtner was among the skeptics of the program, saying he wanted more details about success rates.

"I want to see criteria for dangerous intersections, to see how many were related to red lights and that everything has been done short of going nuclear because safety is the reason we're doing this, not revenue," he said.

The board's transportation committee is expected to take up the issue again in January.