IL - Alderman Wants Red Light Camera Warning Devices Banned

Alderman Wants Red Light Camera Warning Devices Banned

Craig Dellimore Reporting
Political Editor

A key Chicago Alderman wants to enact a ban on new devices that can warn drivers when red light cameras are operating in the City.

WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports from City Hall.

Chicago-based Cobra Electronics—best known for its radar detectors--now is marketing a device that warns if you approach an intersection that uses a camera to catch red light scofflaws.

Powerful Alderman Ed Burke wants to ban detectors like that in Chicago. The Council Finance Committee chairman says drivers shouldn’t get a warning, though he acknowledges that the City posts signs warning drivers that they are approaching intersections with cameras. Burke says the new detectors "subvert the system.

Reporters asked Burke if the issue had more to do with the money the City collects from the fines, rather than making the streets safer. The Alderman wouldn’t go quite that far. He says it's a reality that drivers are going to blow through stop signs and red lights, and he says they ought to be on notice that they face a fine. But, when asked if he's trying to protect the revenue from the fines, Burke replied that it is a lot of revenue and the City's Budget Director has built that money into the municipal budget.

The proposed ordinance is yet to be formally introduced.

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I guess having a GPS would still be ok. Maybe even nav alert who knows. I do know that the new Cobra and the 9500i would be part of the bank if anything does happen.

I can ALMOST sort of see how banning speed camera alerts MIGHT be defensible. But not really.

However, this is absurd. Having an alert makes you LESS likely to run that red light. NOT letting drivers know is only going to make them MORE likely to run the light. That guy is TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO RUN RED LIGHTS SO THE GOVERNMENT CAN GET MORE MONEY AT THE EXPENSE OF SAFETY. HOLY **** THAT'S WRONG.