Watched a traffic court case on Clark Street last Thursday and it was wild

I had to go down to the Daley Center for a parking ticket I got near Wrigley Field, and while I was waiting I sat in on a traffic court hearing. This guy was fighting a red light camera ticket from that intersection at Western and Madison, and the judge actually asked to see the calibration records for the camera. Turns out the city couldn't produce them on the spot, and the judge dismissed the whole thing. I never knew you could request the maintenance logs for those cameras like that. It got me thinking about all the tickets I just paid without questioning them. Has anyone here ever tried getting those records and had it work?

3 comments

3 Comments

jenny1983d ago

Wait the city actually couldn't produce the calibration records? That's crazy! I got a red light ticket from that same intersection maybe a year ago, and I just paid it online without even thinking about it. Now I'm wondering how many of those cameras are even properly maintained. I bet half the tickets people pay are from faulty equipment and nobody ever asks the right questions. Makes me feel like a sucker for not pushing back on mine.

eva_moore2d ago

I see it a little different. Those cameras are a pain in the ass but people love to pretend like they're all out to get us. The city has thousands of these things to maintain, and one slip up with paperwork doesn't mean the whole system is rigged. Half the time when someone fights a ticket they're just hoping the officer doesn't show up, not because they're actually innocent. The driver at Western and Madison probably ran that light and got lucky with a technicality. Everyone wants to feel like a genius for finding a loophole, but that doesn't change what actually happened at the intersection.

evan_davis2d ago

nah you're not a sucker at all, most people just pay and move on. I actually tried this exact thing after getting a red light ticket over on Ashland and Jackson. I just emailed the city clerk's office and asked for the calibration logs and maintenance records for that specific camera on that date. Took about two weeks but they actually sent me a PDF showing the camera hadn't been calibrated in like 8 months, which was way past the required schedule. I took that to court and the judge threw it out immediately lol. The clerk even told me barely anyone asks for those records so they usually just hope you pay up without pushing back.