That $500 traffic ticket I got in Chicago taught me something wild about red light cameras

Got a red light camera ticket near Western and Fullerton last month, $100 fine. I was going to just pay it, but my buddy said look up the city data. Found a report from the Chicago Inspector General's office that says these cameras actually increase rear-end crashes by over 20% because people slam on their brakes. Meanwhile the city made like $80 million off them in 2022 alone. Has anyone else looked into fighting these things in court instead of just paying?

3 comments

3 Comments

fisher.thomas4d agoTop Commenter

Did you see that WGN story a few months back about the yellow light times being too short at some of these cameras? The city actually shortened them on purpose to catch more people, which is basically a scam. Fighting it sounds smart if you can prove the timing was off, but I hear the court fees and time off work might not be worth it unless your ticket is way higher than $100.

the_viola4d ago

Ha, exactly! It's basically a hidden tax at that point, and the city knows most people will just pay it instead of taking a day off work to argue about 0.3 seconds of yellow.

shane_bell4d agoMost Upvoted

Read something similar about how the city was making money hand over fist on those things. They shortened the yellow by like a tenth of a second and it bumped up ticket revenue by tons. Total cash grab if you ask me.