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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Law - Chicago sees more money to be made from red-light cameras
The ILB's most recent entry on red light cameras (SB 389) was March 14th, quoting a story from Iowa headed "Red-light cameras light up cash registers: Operators of red-light cameras collect lots of money in fines; It's unclear if streets are safer."
Today, WGN Chicago has a story about Chicago considering using the cameras to nab insurance scofflaws. Some quotes:
In Chicago, blowing a stop light might get you a letter, complete with a $100 fine, thanks to a red-light camera.
But that might not be the end of your photo-enforcement woes. Aldermen today began discussing using the city's ever-growing legion of red-light cameras to check for vehicle liability insurance.
The city could net nearly $10 million in fines just by citing non-insured vehicles that also get photo-ticketed for a red-light violation, said Ald. Ed Burke (14th), who brought the idea to the City Council Traffic Committee.
Using them on a more extensive basis could net the city more than $100 million a year, added Rowland Day, executive vice president of InsureNet, a Michigan-based company that provides instant insurance verification--and wants to help the city set up the insurance verification and citation system.
Although no state or municipality uses photo-enforcement for insurance scofflaws, Day said it's only a matter of time. "We are going to have three or four states signed in the next 90 days," he said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 17, 2009 07:57 AM
Posted to General Law Related