Metro East Sun

Former House candidate Mike Babcock, R-Bethalto, wonders if all the right questions are being asked in the red-light camera debate.

“To me there’s a question about if it’s even constitutional,” Babcock told the Metro East Sun. “I think it’s unconstitutional for there to be a camera to identify a car when they don’t know who’s driving. I know the individual owning the car would potentially be the one under investigation, but how fair is that if you can’t truly identify the person?”

Sponsored by veteran state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, House Bill 322 seeks to remove nearly 100 of the devices across the state. The bill would also outlaw red-light cameras in non-home-rule communities and is now slated to go before the full House for a vote, where passage would lead to the instant removal of red-light cameras in at least 45 of 101 communities, or 92 of the 607 cameras operating in the state.

“That’s as it should be,” Babcock said. “While I believe there are some sincere people that truly want to stop the problem of people running red-lights and harming people, I think this is truly a money grab. You really can’t regulate someone being so reckless that they would purposely run a red-light and potentially cause harm to people.”

In all, Illinois Policy Institute estimates that red-light cameras have accumulated more than $1 billion in revenue since first being installed a little more than a decade ago.

Babcock added he thinks the windfall has led to too many lawmakers looking the other way whenever the camera debate comes up.

“If there were more legislators truly concerned about the issue, they should put more money into having more police officers to deal with the problem in the worse locations,” he said. “That would mean fewer problems in those areas. I realize all that costs money, but if we want results I think that’s the best way to handle it.”