Despite the fact that the River Forest Board of Trustees made the controversial decision to have red light cameras installed at two busy intersections, it will be a minimum of nine months, if ever, before villagers see the safety measure put into effect.
First, the trustees must select a vendor. The board is scheduled to vote on whether to sign a contract with Safe Speed, the company that is currently the front-runner for the job.
At their Aug. 15 meeting, Safe Speed IT Director Chris Lai gave a detailed presentation on the process required to implement red light cameras.
The process begins with a full analysis of each intersection, which is translated to a written report and turned over to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for review. IDOT must first give approval for the cameras in order for the village to move forward with implementation.
Despite the delay caused by the initial analysis, Lai said it’s essential to ensuring the system would be necessary and effective in the village.
Not taking the proper steps has resulted in failed systems in other communities for a variety of reasons. In Los Angeles, for instance, Lai said that red light cameras were installed and later removed because of improper research into which intersections most needed the technology. Rather than install the cameras at high-traffic intersections, the city opted to put up cameras in areas with much lower accident rates. When they failed to significantly reduce the percentages of incidents, L.A. chose to have the cameras removed.
“It actually ended up costing the city of L.A. a lot of money,” Lai said, adding that proper research is essential. “This technology, if deployed correctly, is really a win-win situation for public safety, and also for the police.”
According to Lai, the intersection of North and Harlem reportedly saw 20 accidents in 2010 and Lake and Harlem had 18 accidents last year. Police Chief Gregory Weiss said that when he began researching red light cameras in 2009, he found that over the course of three years, there had been only five car accidents causing injuries at Lake and Harlem. Red light camera opponents have repeatedly cited this statistic as showing that the technology is simply unnecessary, as there are such a small number of dangerous accidents.
There’s also the question of cost to the village. Though the upfront costs appear to be substantial, Village Administrator Eric Palm said that those numbers are deceiving. The $22,908 designated for an LED traffic signal upgrade, for instance, will be covered within the first year.
“Essentially what will happen is that the costs for the upgrade will be paid for out of the violation revenue,” Palm said. Revenue is also slated to cover the monthly fees associated with the service, and fees for each individual ticket given. Safe Speed will withhold a portion of the ticket revenue to cover those fees, and anything above and beyond those amounts will be turned over to the village.
“There’s a cost neutrality clause in the agreement,” said Palm. “If the system does not produce enough revenues in a given month, we don’t have to pay Safe Speed.”
If selected as contractor for the project, Safe Speed will follow up on the initial installation with a 30-day trial period during which the company would hold a public relations campaign to inform residents about the new technology. In that time, Lai said it will be up to the village whether or not they distribute warning tickets to motorists caught on camera violating red light laws. But no fines will be imposed.
After that, motorists will be required to pay $100 per violation. Lai admitted that a large percentage of those tickets will be given to motorists turning right on red, rather than actually running a red light. In other areas, he said right turn on red violations can account for some 80 or 90 percent of the total ticketed violations. At the Aug. 15 meeting, Trustee Susan Conti voiced her concern over that statistic, and suggested that the cameras appear to be little more than a money grab on the part of the village. “This is obviously a revenue generator,” she said. “I think if it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be doing it.”
But Weiss later told Wednesday Journal that all violations should be treated equally. “By state law, a violation of a red light includes failing to come to a complete stop at the intersection before making a right turn,” he said. “The fact that most red light violations are right turn on red does not make them less of a state violation.”
At the meeting, Conti’s suggestion that the board turn the topic over to the Traffic and Safety Commission for review did not pass. Trustee Michael Gibbs said the board was far beyond that step in the process. Village President John Rigas said that move would be detrimental to the village, because any traffic analysis done by that commission would require payment by the village. If Safe Speed does the analysis, he said, it would be free.
Conti took issue with Rigas’ assertion. “We have to sign a four-year contract in order to get a traffic study, is that what you’re saying?” she asked.
Still, the board voted in favor of an ordinance to allow red light cameras.
Next up, Palm said that the village will further investigate a number of items in the Safe Speed contract before it comes to a vote at the Sept. 12 meeting.