Bob Sirott`s One More Thing about red light cameras

One more thing about the city of Chicago's red light cameras.

The mayor wants a new vendor to supply red light cameras to the city, and now there's a report that bidders are also being asked for ideas on how else to use the cameras, including spotting parking violators. Why don't they just get cameras with mechanical arms that take the cash right out of our pockets?

Ever try to contest a red light camera ticket? Good luck. These things are like automatic cash registers feeding the city and some suburbs. Do they really make intersections safer or do those "photo enforced" signs just force drivers to either speed through or suddenly slam on the brakes? The city says they're just asking about more uses for the cameras at this point and have no plans to use the red light cameras to ticket drivers for anything other than running red lights. I hope that's true, but if they're looking for another use for them, how about pointing a few more at gang infested high crime areas.

Using cameras to catch speeders isn't a bad idea. Slower traffic is safer traffic, and there's no yellow light factor. If they do want to use cameras for parking violators, maybe they can crack down on valets who take up all the street parking. Unless they're parking my car, of course.