Illinois has been hard hit by red-light cameras; some have called Chicago "America's red-light camera capital." Particularly galling is the use of cameras to support tickets for illegal right turns on red. These "violations" are committed by almost every driver, and in most cases create virtually no safety risk, so it is apparent that the tickets are issued only to generate revenue.

The National Motorists Association opposes red-light cameras categorically (see our objections here), and would therefore like to see them prohibited outright. But a bill in Illinois prohibiting their use for right turns on red would reduce the cameras' "productivity" and therefore might pave the way for an eventual ban.

Illinois Senate Bill 0026, sponsored by Sen. Dan Duffy - Martin A. Sandoval, Chris Lauzen, Thomas Johnson, Kwame Raoul, Wm. Sam McCann and Matt Murphy, would provide that "a county or municipality may not use an automated traffic law enforcement system to provide recorded images of a motor vehicle for the purpose of issuing violations to persons driving a motor vehicle who enter an intersection to turn right against a red signal indication" (effective immediately).

If you would like to see this limitation placed on red-light cameras in Illinois, we urge you to contact your senator and let them know that you support SB0026.

While you're at it, tell them you want red-light cameras banned outright...

A new bill is coming to the California State Assembly that would reduce fines for drivers caught by traffic cameras making an illegal right turn at a red light, as reported by Mike Rosenberg of the San Mateo County Times.

The bill proposed by Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, would lower from about $450 to $250 the fine drivers caught on camera pay for turning right on red without fully stopping.

According to the Times article, police currently fine drivers caught on camera the same amount whether they run a red light through an intersection or make a right turn on red without fully stopping.  Assembly Bill 909 would make the right turn penalty the same as what drivers pay when they are pulled over by police for not fully stopping at a stop sign.  As Assemblyman Hill explains, "the distinction between running straight through the red light and making the California roll is not the same...  The punishment should fit the crime...  It tends to be more of a 'gotcha' type of ticket than what you would consider a real dangerous violation."

Hill is also co-authoring a bill by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, that would require cities to collect at least six months of traffic collision data at an intersection before they can install a red-light camera there.  The Senate will vote on Senate Bill 1362 next week and, if approved, it would head to the Assembly.

The National Motorists Association opposes the use of ticket cameras.  In the meantime, it may be in the best interest of motorists that these ticket fines be reduced.  Members may wish to voice their approval for Assembly Bill 909 with their assemblyperson, or for Senate Bill 1362 with their state senator, by using this link.

(You can read the San Mateo County Times article www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com" title="here" target="_blank">here.)

Right Turn On Red

When Right-Turn-On-Red (RTOR) was adopted across the country, in response to an energy crisis -- because it would save fuel -- it had its critics, most notably the anti-destination league led by the insurance industry.

The claim was that such a radical law would increase accidents. Later they proved that there indeed was an increase in right turn accidents at controlled intersection. However, they left out the part about the major reduction in rear-end collisions far exceeding the minor increase in right turn accidents.

Thereafter the issue remained quiet and millions of man-hours and millions of gallons of fuel have been saved by motorists, and overall accident numbers went down.

The RTOR laws were fairly uniform in that they required a vehicle operator to come to a complete stop, yield to cross traffic and pedestrians, and only then proceed with the right turn. In practice, if cross traffic and pedestrians are not present, drivers slow to a near stop and then proceed with their turn. The spirit, if not the letter, of the law is obeyed.

The "stop first" requirement is seldom enforced and no one is disadvantaged in the process. This is no secret. Cross traffic and pedestrians still have the right-of-way and RTOR vehicles yield to these entities.

Never to miss an opportunity to rip off motorists, the ticket camera companies have seized the moment to profit from the difference between how RTOR is actually practiced and the actual law. In some cities, where longer yellow lights have been forced into place, RTOR tickets are being used to pick up the revenue slack. We can shut this exploitation down.

Find the contact information for your specific legislators and write them a simple letter that the RTOR law be amended, from requiring a complete stop, to requiring that drivers making a RTOR must yield to all other traffic and pedestrians.

Explain that this will save time, save fuel, further reduce rear-end collisions, and bring the law into sync with normal and safe driver behavior, as it exits now. If your legislator agrees to your request, let us know and the NMA will certainly get solidly behind the effort.