Lawmakers on Tuesday rejected Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey’s plan for red-light cameras at intersections after several senators from both parties and from around Illinois derided what they called a government money grab and “Big Brother” intrusion.
In Los Angeles, officials estimate that 80% of red light camera tickets go not to those running through intersections but to drivers making rolling right turns, a Times review has found. As London realized that day in court, her turn was illegal because she did not completely stop before turning.
One of the most powerful selling points for photo enforcement systems, which now monitor 175 intersections in Los Angeles County and hundreds more across the United States, has been the promise of reducing collisions caused by drivers barreling through red lights.
But it is the right-turn infraction -- a frequently misunderstood and less pressing safety concern -- that drives tickets and revenue in the nation's second-biggest city and at least half a dozen others across the county.
States giving yellow light to revenue-light camerasSo why is Rockford pushing for them when studies show that extending the yellow by 1 second would better improve safety?Missouri House votes against intersection red light cameras
Texas Red light camera revenue sits unspent
Dallas City Hall has idled more than one-fourth of the 62 cameras
North Carolina Appeals Court Rules Against Red Light Cameras
