RESOLUTION CALLING FOR HEARING INTO THE
SITE SELECTION OF RED LIGHT CAMERAS
WHEREAS, The City of Chicago City Council approved the installation of automated traffic law enforcement systems, commonly referred to as "red light cameras" throughout the city in 2003; and
WHEREAS, while the cameras might aid in efforts to create safer streets by discouraging drivers from driving through red traffic lights, it is not clear that the cameras are installed at the intersections where they would make the greatest impact to traffic safety; and
WHEREAS, the cameras have generated more than $300 million in revenue for the City of Chicago since 2003; and
WHEREAS, many in the public are skeptical that these cameras are motivated by concerns for traffic safety, and not by a need for additional revenue; and
WHEREAS, recent news reports have called into question the administration of the contract between camera vendor Redflex Camera Systems and the Department of Transportation official previously in charge of supervising the contract; and
WHEREAS Redflex has collected more than $100 million in revenue from its contract with the City of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Sec. 9-102-010(c) of the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago authorizes the Department of Transportation, with the advice of the Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, to identify intersections where the installation of cameras is warranted; and
WHEREAS, if such cameras are to be used in the City of Chicago, they should be installed according to some data-based analysis indicating the locations where they may make the greatest impact on traffic safety; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that, in order to ensure that red light cameras have been, and will continue to be, installed in the locations where they will improve traffic safety, as opposed to simply where they will generate the most revenue, the undersigned members of the City of Chicago City Council call for a public hearing inviting member...
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