After years of being scammed out of money, while being forced to drive through intersections with a combination of sub 3 second yellow light times and flashing metal boxes, a couple Chicago residents have filed what could be an incredibly massive class action lawsuit against the city.

The suit alleges that for at least three years, from 2003 to 2006, the city operated the red light camera system without a valid ordinance to legalize it, meaning that more than $100 Million in fines may have to be refunded to all the motorists who were scammed by the city and Redflex Traffic Systems.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has worked directly for a lobbyist firm, Resolute Consulting LLC, that has Redflex as a client. The mayor could have some pretty upset pals over at Resolute, including Greg Goldner who is also in line for huge profits if Emanuels speed camera scheme is enacted. 

Also on Wednesday, Chicago’s city council approved of the speed cameras that Emanuel spent the entire Fall session of Illinois state legislature bullying political foes and allies into passing.

The new speed cameras wouldn’t necessarily be affected by the suit even though the plaintiffs are stating the entire red light program is illegal, regardless of the 2006 camera ticketing ordinance that was passed through city council.

This is a complicated situation indeed, but hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, so the red light scammers from Redflex simply cannot afford to back down.

Chicago really does have contempt for motorists and it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for them to fight back. Even in the above news video, the yellow light is clearly less than 3 seconds, which is not only below Federal standards, but is extremely dangerous.

You have to hand it to Chicago and Redflex, they’ve pulled off quite a scam, right in plain sight, for almost a decade.

Rahm Emanuel’s plan to turn Chicago into a network of spy cameras and turn his back on motorists and taxpayers just got a major boost today from Governor Pat Quinn.

Even though the so-called “Speed Camera Retrofitting” bill was opposed by major media outlets in Chicago and 9 out of 10 Illinois residents [report], Quinn retreated from pressure by Emanuel and signed the bill into law.

The 190 red light cameras in Chicago have all been authorized to be “upgraded” to also issue photo tickets based on speed. In a city with multiple intersections that have 2.5 second yellow light times, dangerously below federal minimum standards, don’t be surprised to see speed limits lowered or changed to confuse drivers in order to drive up revenue.

The new law also allows each municipality to set whatever guidelines they choose for what constitutes a speed violation, meaning that going 46 MPH in a 45 zone could get you a $100.00 fine, depending on where you’re being video-recorded by Redflex cameras.

In addition to the upgraded combo cameras, this law also allows for new speed cameras and mobile vans to be deployed, which could quickly turn 70% of the city into a surveillance zone, according to the text of the bill.

Mayor Emanuel is calling them “safety zones,” but what’s safe about expanding the operation of a company, Redflex, best known for fraud, employees driving their vans under the influence of alcohol, child pornography, unsafe workplaces and ignoring their own citations?

Governor Pat Quinn will quickly realize his mistake, but it will probably take at least a couple years to reverse course, as it did in Arizona, if the cameras start to be installed and retrofitted.

IL Governor Pat Quinn looks up at his new master, the speed camera.

They are calling them “safety zones,” but they’ll cover near 70% of the city of Chicago according to a report by The Chicago Sun Times below.

This map outlines the consequences of a bill that just passed through both houses of Illinois legislature. If Governor Quinn signs off on this monster, the bulk of the city of Chicago will become eligible for surveillance by a profit driven, corrupt foreign corporation, Redflex Traffic Systems. This is clearly not about safety.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is using the excuse that the safety of the children of his city is at stake, but he fails to address anything about signal timing in the intersections where red light cameras currently take 24/7 video surveillance.

Unfortunately, nobody has even asked him the question, which takes Emanuel and the rest of the camera pushers off the hook. Chicago’s 2.5 second yellow lights lead to more erratic driving and accidents than any other factor, but if they were extended to a safe 4.0-4.5 seconds, the camera systems would become unprofitable.

Instead of addressing the overall signal timing issue, which could also explain accidents involving pedestrians that Emanuel keeps using as a scapegoat for creating a surveillance zone encircling his entire city.

It looks like a fairly good possibility that these “safety zones” will be coming to a Chicago neighborhood near you. The backlash will be enormous, but in the mean time, Redflex and Rahm will rake in the dough by the barrel full. 

by CameraFRAUD

photo courtesy of PortLavacaMainStreet.com

Port LaVaca, TX has some serious issues surrounding their red light camera program. The latest news, in the form of accident figures, further proves what a terrible choice the mayor and town council have made for their citizens. Let’s start from the beginning.

January 2009: Port LaVaca, a town of around 12,000 which is located between Corpus Christi and Galveston on the Gulf Coast of Texas, installs red light cameras, with no justification, after a decision by their town council who had been heavily lobbied by Redflex. Accidents were not a problem at any of the intersections where cameras were installed according to a report just released. [Report]

January 2011: After months of collecting signatures on a petition circulated throughout 2010, which garnered enough to put the red light camera system to a vote they were turned in to the town recorder. 

March 2011: Port Lavaca town council chooses to ignore the petition, which has now been validated by the town recorder. This was a ploy to keep the red light camera referendum off the ballot, because the council members, who were in the pocket of Redflex, knew they would lose.

April 2011: Revelations surface that a powerful Chicago political machine with direct ties to Rahm Emanuel created a front group which filed a lawsuit to stop the vote on the initiative, “even though no court order was issued in the case” and the referendum on photo enforcement did not violate the town charter. In violation of state law, the vote never took place.

October 2011: Money grubbing Police Sergeant Kelly Flood fraudulently signed a photo ticket for a motorist who passed through an intersection on a green light. Port Lavaca refused to turn over the info on the ticket. According to TheNewspaper.com,

 Byron Schirmbeck, director of SaferBaytown.com, filed a formal complaint with Calhoun County District Attorney Dan Heard over the city’s refusal to comply with the terms of the state open records statute that generally requires the disclosure of public documents within ten days.

November 2011: 

The green light ticket along with accident numbers have been released to Schirmbeck, which prove that not only was the ticket issued illegally, but also accident numbers have gone from near zero, prior to camera installation to 350% increases in some intersections.

[REPORT HERE]

In review, what the town of Port Lavaca town council and mayor have done in the past 33 months is install fraudulent red light cameras with no justification, attempted to hide accident numbers, suppressed a citizens’ initiative illegally and have a police sergeant signing off on tickets for motorists who drive through green lights.

The worst part, for the citizens of Port Lavaca, is that all this has accomplished is to increase accidents, including those with injuries in intersections that didn’t have any collisions prior to camera installation.

On a smaller scale, the town leadership is about to learn some very tough lessons that the city of Houston spent valuable time and taxpayer money learning:

by CameraFRAUD