With a federal corruption probe burrowing deeper into Springfield, the Illinois General Assembly has only one choice when it comes to the future of a red-light camera industry that has infected nearly 100 communities statewide: shut it down.
Federal investigators have been digging into the political corruption surrounding red-light cameras, including a pair of the multi-million dollar traffic devices in Oakbrook Terrace.
Traffic cameras collected more than $1 billion from drivers since 2008, but corruption probes are prompting state comptroller to stop acting as ticket collection agency.
At least five local governments in Illinois still contract with Redflex, the infamous red-light camera company at the center of one of Chicago’s most expensive corruption scandals.
A recent analysis confirms what many Illinoisans already know: While red-light cameras serve as reliable sources of revenue, they do not improve public safety.
The Chicago Tribune released findings from their ongoing investigation into the city’s red-light camera program on Thursday, revealing that with the city’s transition to a new camera vendor came a “subtle but significant lowering of the threshold for yellow light times.” The new vendor, Xerox State & Local Solutions, took over the program in 2013...
Chicago officials announced Wednesday that dozens of drivers will receive refunds from the city for wrongfully issued red-light camera tickets. But thousands more were left in the dark regarding the cause of their tickets and the overall soundness of the city’s red-light camera program, which has been mired in scandal for months. The city reviewed...
Chicago has the most red-light cameras of any city in the country. Since 2003, the city’s 352 cameras have levied nearly half a billion dollars in fines. These cameras are sold to the public as a way to promote traffic safety, but the real outcome of the city’s program has been to grift lawful drivers...