Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Motorists nabbed by Chicago's Big Brother network of red-light cameras already get slapped with $100 fines.

If the City Council's most powerful alderman has his way, they'll also have to go back to school -- at a cost of $25.

Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) wants to require red-light runners to complete a "Red Light Education Program" to prevent them from becoming repeat offenders.

At Wednesday's City Council meeting, Burke introduced an ordinance directing the city's Department of Administrative Hearings to launch a "red light education program" -- both on-line and in person -- bankrolled by charging red-light runners a $25 fee in addition to the $100 ticket.

Motorists who fail to complete training would pay an additional $50 fine.

Burke noted teen drivers who receive traffic tickets in Illinois are already required to complete mandatory education programs, contributing, in part, to a 40 percent drop in teen deaths in 2008.

The same sort of drop could be expected from a red-light education course, he said.

"It would help reduce the number of accidents," Burke said.

"Clearly, when you're talking about 27 percent of the six million accidents that occur on U.S. roadways every year occurring at intersections, it would seem to be a move in the right direction." 

The proposed new law is supposed to enhance traffic safety. But by our calculations, based on the number of red-light violators ticketed every year, the city stands to collect at least an additional $11.4 million a year under the Burke proposal -- maybe a lot more.

Those millions will come out of the pockets of folks like the citizens lined up Thursday outside Traffic Court at the Daley Center.

"I think a $100 dollar fine is big enough," motorist J.C. Parker said. "Why should you pay $50 when you're already paying $100?"

"Everybody needs to drive a little better and be more cautious, but I don't think that this particular add-on is an issue of traffic safety," motorist Marty O'Connor said of the Burke plan. "I think they're just trying to fill their coffers." 

Burke acknowledged that raising revenue was an added motivation at a time when Mayor Daley is poised to lay off 1,100 city employees to close a projected, $300 million year-end budget gap.

"I wouldn't discount the importance of trying to find every source of revenue we can, but no, I think the primary goal would be education of motorists," Burke told CBS 2's Mike Parker.

Chances are that Burke -- usually referred to as the "powerful" chairman of the council's Finance Committee -- won't be paying any red-light fines on his way to and from work. Chances are he won't be going to traffic school.
Burke has a full-time chauffeur -- a Chicago police officer, ferrying him around in a city car.

So why is a man with a police driver meddling in traffic conditions and fines for drivers in the city?

"That's what we're supposed to do in the city council -- legislate for the city," Burke said.

Red-light cameras are already installed at 143 accident-prone Chicago intersections -- with 39 more expected to go up later this year and 330 intersections projected to have cameras by 2012.

Despite repeated claims that changing driving behavior is the ultimate goal, the cameras have become a giant cash cow for Chicago.

Last year, red-light cameras pumped out 579,560 tickets and generated $44.8 million in sorely-needed revenue. During the first three months of this year, there have been 148,612 tickets issued and $13.3 million collected.

Cameras have also been credited with a 59 percent reduction in red-light running.

Earlier this year, aldermen were told that Chicago could rake in "at least $200 million" each year by using its vast network of red-light and surveillance cameras to hunt down uninsured motorists.

The system pitched to the City Council's Transportation Committee by Michigan-based InsureNet would work only if insurance companies were somehow compelled to report the names and license plates of insured motorists. That's already happening daily in 13 states, but not in Illinois. Fourteen states require weekly reports.

The data would be entered into the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS), the information-sharing network that already links federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

When a camera spots an uninsured vehicle driving on Chicago streets, a citation would automatically be generated and sent to the registered owner, along with a digital photograph.

The STNG Wire contributed to this report.

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