Red Light Robber

Red Light Camera Entrapment for Starters

I recommend attorneys to understand this one-page document and to follow its links. While doing that, ask yourself, "How does one prosecute/litigate the white collar crime of bad physics in Court?" This web site answers that question.

(This link is the same one as the "scam" link at the top of every web page.)

Illinois Requirements for Professional Engineers

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) regulates the practices of traffic engineers. 225 ILCS 325 Section 4n requires the "professional engineer to apply science", not to misapply science.

Illinois Professional Engineers Manual for Code Enforcement

Page 12 says that incompetence is a criminal offense--a class A misdemeanor and subsequent acts a felony.

Bureau of Design and Environment Manual - 2022

Page 57-4.15 says that the yellow change interval equation is in the Bureau of Operations Traffic Policies and Procedures Manual. The following exhibit is an excerpt from this manual.

Traffic Policies and Procedures Manual - Yellow Change Interval

Illinois uses the old incorrect ITE equation. The old equation works only for unimpeded thru movements and only for the average passenger sedan driver. The old equation forces drivers to run red lights for turning movements and impeded movements. It also fails for drivers and vehicles who react slower than "average"--which is half the population.

The new ITE equation (established March 2020) additionally works for turning movements, but it still propagates the other physics errors of the old. It does not work for impeded movements. ITE still uses perception-reaction time and deceleration for the average passenger sedan driver, and ITE still botches up the physical dynamics of up-hill grades.

Chicago's Red Light Camera Enforcement Web Site - Yellow Change Intervals

Refer to the section "How long are Chicago's yellow lights?":

(1) Chicago sets yellows to 3.0 seconds on roads with speed limits less than 30 mph and to 4.0 for speed limits exceeding 35 mph.

That practice is engineering malpractice. A violation of the MUTCD. Those values are several seconds short of what physics requires of a driver. Chicago claims these values are recommended by ITE. 1) ITE did not recommend values until after March 2020. 2) Before or after ITE established recommendations, Chicago values are not ITE's practices. Chicago's falls shorter than ITE's practices. In all cases, ITE's practices are not engineering practices. Even after March 2020, ITE still misapply, not applies, the mathematical and physical sciences.

To see how these yellow durations cause everyone to run red lights, do you own computations with this calculator.

When you use the calculator, you will see that the yellow light duration is half the time it takes a driver to stop. Chicago's yellow is even less than that.

Refer to the section "Why not make the yellow light longer?":

The following Chicago claims are lies.

(1) "Unfortunately too many drivers believe that the yellow is a sign to speed up."

But the engineering spec on the yellow light requires some drivers to "beat the light".

Proof:

On a 45 mph road, the average passenger sedan needs about 300 feet to stop comfortably and the average school bus needs about 430 feet.

Chicago gives yellows 4 seconds on a 45 mph road.

Is 4 seconds sufficient?

Once the drivers cannot stop comfortably, the sedan must traverse 300 feet and the school bus 430 feet in order to reach the intersection before the light turns red. What speed must they travel?

Use rate x time = distance.

The sedan must accelerate to 51 mph (300 ft / 4 seconds = 75 ft/s = 51 mph) to reach the intersection before the light turns red.

The school bus must accelerate to 63 mph (430 / 4 = 107 ft/s = 63 mph) to reach the intersection before the light turns red.

Both drivers must beat the light.

Now what happens if the legal-minded driver decides to go the speed limit? He enters the intersection a second or two after the light turns red. He enters the intersection on red not because he is a bad driver, but because he must obey the laws of physics.

A pedestrian has already began walking into the intersection.

(2) "Drivers will treat the extension of the yellow as a green light."

This myth was formally debunked in 1961 in a paper published by Olsen and Rothery. Olsen and Rothery were experts on human factors. The reverse has been demonstrated to be true: Increase the yellow by 1 second and RLRs will permanently decrease by about 70%. There are literally hundreds of millions of examples with no exceptions.

Yellow Light Flaw in One Page

Illinois MUTCD 2021v3 Supplement

Illinois Red Light Camera Law

Traffic Signal and Red Light Camera Data Required for Analysis

FOIA your city clerk for this information. This is the information you need to analyze a red-light camera program. Be confident that all red-light camera programs are based on engineering malpractice. (You do not need crash data because red-light cameras measure the legal motion of traffic, not crashes. Legal motion of traffic and safety are two different concerns in traffic engineering. One does not imply the other. Though this fact is traffic engineering 101, the public is not aware of it.)

First, FOIA your city clerk for the "red light camera installation plans". The clerk should have these plans available. It usually takes 3 -5 days to get this information. After you receive the installation plans, then you may FOIA the clerk for the rest.

As for the installation plans, be mindful that the longer it takes your city clerk to respond, the greater the odds that the red-light camera firm or city knows it is running an illegal engineering operation. Most of the time (about 80% of the time), the installation plans are not certified by a licensed professional engineer, the camera firm does not have the legal authority to offer engineering services in the State, or the engineer who certified the plans did not have "responsible charge" of the project. All are deliberate crimes.

Second, as for the red-light camera event data, most red-light camera firms no longer disclose event data. The firms do not want outsiders to possess this data. That is because event data damns red-light camera programs. Having the data gives you the power to reveal the nature of red-light running. The nature of the vast majority of red-light running and crashes boils down to systematic engineering failures, not bad driver behavior.

A quick analysis of the data reveals giant disparities in red-light running counts from one intersection to another. Because drivers drive no differently from the east part of town to the west part of town, the only explanation of the disparities is that the engineering or traffic volumes must differ between the intersections. But you will see higher counts at some lower volume intersections.

On closer analysis, the data reveals giant disparities of red-light running counts over periods of time at individual intersections. The differences are caused by traffic engineers, not varying driver behavior. Engineers periodically adjust the signal timing. With the event data, you can literally see the results of their adjustments by noting the increase or decrease in red-light running counts. You will even see that a 0.1 second decrease in the yellow change interval permanently increases red-light running by 50%.

To verify that the change in counts is caused by the engineer, ask the clerk for the "traffic signal plan" or "signal timing chart" for the intersection. These plans and charts must be certified by a professional engineer. Most of the time, they are certified. But there are giant exceptions to this--like in Suffolk County, New York.

Disparities are always explained by engineering changes--for good or bad. Driver behavior is a direct result of engineering, not drivers' ability to drive. When you know the math behind the yellow light, you realize that the disparities, red-light running and crashes are tethered to the traffic engineers' systematic misapplications of physics. You see that red-light running is predictable. You now realize the nature of the red-light camera business. It is a charlatan fraud scheme rooted in misapplications of physics.