Red-light camera company sets fines

There’s been a good amount of press about the proliferation of red-light cameras in the greater Chicago area, and it’s pretty clear the practice is more about generating revenue than public safety. Now here’s a story about how one of those camera companies has agreed to let a municipality create different fines for different crimes.

Now, I don’t like criticizing other reporters, especially when  commenting on their work and not doing any original reporting of my own. But since when does anyone other than local government and law enforcement get to decide the fines? There’s a lot wrong here.

Australian-owned Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. recently told Naperville officials that it could, if asked, revamp systems so right-turn violators would be billed less than red-light runners who blow straight through intersections, a more dangerous infraction.

Australian-owned? Couldn’t we find a company a little closer to home to benefit from our tax dollars and fines? Chicago cops and Chicago teachers are required to live in the City to collect a City paycheck. Red-light cameras are such a cottage industry in Illinois, can’t we find a local company to grow this business? Heck, I’m sure Mayor Daley has a free nephew or two.

That position stands in sharp contrast to one taken last month by Lombard-based RedSpeed-Illinois, the dominant camera firm in the suburbs, which flatly refused to consider a two-tiered fine structure when asked to do so by River Forest, then a prospective customer. The near west suburb wanted to levy a $50 fine on rolling-right-turn violators, half the $100 standard in Illinois for red-light infractions caught on camera.

Ok, here’s a local provider. But they won’t consider assigning different fines for different crimes. Why does the company that makes the cameras get a say in this? Isn’t this the work of municipal government? Don’t we, through our elected officials, get a say in what constitutes a crime and how  high a penalty should be attached?

Traffic cameras have proved big revenue generators, and any reduction in fees would appear to have more of an impact on municipalities than the vendors who provide the cameras and manage ticketing paperwork. Redflex charges municipalities a flat fee of under $5,000 per month for each camera.

RedSpeed equipment rental is much less, but the firm typically also charges municipalities up to $36 for every ticket processed. That arrangement could leave little financial incentive for municipalities to install cameras if the bulk of fines were reduced to $50.

A RedSpeed salesman objected to River Forest trustees when they voted in favor of lower fines for rolling-right-turn violators. He said the firm runs cameras in more than 50 suburbs, all charge $100 on every ticket, and changing things for River Forest would be an administrative headache that could lead to billing errors.

When public safety, ceding the power of government and tax payer spending are part of the discussion, why is it taken for granted that a company that makes a light gets to make these important decisions? An administrative headache? Please.

Red-light camera company open to two-tiered ticketing — chicagotribune.com