88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
- OCT. 17, 2014, 11:17 PM
- 9,162
- 32
How long is a yellow light? Most people would—reasonably—have no idea the exact length of time before a traffic light goes from yellow to red. The answer is: A minimum of three seconds, according to federal safety regulations. What happens when a mere tenth of second is shaved off that time and a yellow light lasts 2.9 seconds? If you thought, not much, you’d be wrong.
The city of Chicago and its mayor, Rahm Emanuel, are taking heat—thanks to a Chicago Tribune investigation—for ever-so-quietly sanding that measly tenth of a second off of the length of yellow lights in the city this past spring.
The impact was substantial: 77,000 additional red light camera tickets were issued, at $100 a pop, which added up to nearly $8 million forked over by unsuspecting drivers.
Here’s more from the Tribune:
The Emanuel administration quietly issued a new, shorter yellow light standard when the city began the transition from red light camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems to Xerox State & Local Solutions in February. Confronted by complaints from hearing officers and questions from the Tribune about the tickets issued at shorter yellow lights, the administration reversed course in September and told Xerox to re-establish the three-second standard.
Last week, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson issued a review that found that when the city was handing over the contract to Xerox, the administration directed the company to accept red light camera violations for incidents with yellow light times above 2.9 seconds, one-tenth of a second less than the minimum under Redflex. The city previously had told Redflex not to submit tickets with yellows of less than three seconds.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
On Wednesday, Emanuel told the Tribune the city went back to three-second yellow lights “because trust is the most important” thing. The Mayor is still mulling refunding the ticketed drivers.
Read more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat..._8_million_off_new_tickets.html#ixzz3GYq3x87b
On Wednesday, Emanuel told the Tribune the city went back to three-second yellow lights “because trust is the most important” thing. The Mayor is still mulling refunding the ticketed drivers.
Read more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat..._8_million_off_new_tickets.html#ixzz3GYq3x87b
at this.
disgusting politicians.... just fleecing the poor for whatever they can get..
