Just over one year since automated red light enforcement cameras went live in Elk Grove Village, Mayor Craig Johnson delivered a report to the community and village board defending the safety record of the cameras amid criticism they are little more than moneymakers.

Camera enforcement has reduced traffic accidents in the village substantially, Johnson said in his report Tuesday.

According to numbers released by the village, traffic accidents are down in the village by 19% overall and by 26% at intersections where the camera enforcement systems are in place since their installation.

Johnson said a drop of 5% could be attributable to weather or other coincidences, but a drop of 20% has to be attributable to the camera systems.

The village earned $928,749 from red light enforcement last year and took in $600,000 the year before, according to Elk Grove Police Traffic Cmdr. Chuck Walsh.

Tickets issued by officers in the village carry a base fine of $75 not including court costs. Tickets issued by the red light camera system carry a base fine of $100. Johnson said state law allowing red light cameras set the fine.

Tickets are not treated as car moving violations, only affecting a driver's record once four or more tickets go unpaid.

Johnson said he would like to see that changed, making red light tickets moving violations, similar to speed camera violations in highway construction zones.

The village study showed a substantial drop in the number of violations at four camera locations the first month of camera operations vs. May 2009.

Citations issued at southbound Busse Road at Oakton Street dropped 53% from 470 to 217. Westbound Oakton Street at Busse Road dropped 80% from 737 to 142. Southbound Busse at Devon Avenue dropped 34% from 409 to 268 and citations on northbound Busse Road at Devon Avenue dropped 27% from 216 to 156.

Johnson showed video clips at Tuesday's meeting taken from several cameras showing accidents and near misses including one where a driver swerved narrowly missing an Elk Grove police officer and one where a large truck struck a car from behind causing it to roll over.

Police in several communities that use the system Journal reporters have spoken with, including Elk Grove Village, say failing to stop at a red light before making a right turn is the most common violation issued.

Johnson, who owns an insurance company, said crash data and his personal experience in the insurance industry shows that many accidents caused by drivers taking right turns on red do not include the vehicle taking the turn, rather they cause a "ripple effect" when other drivers swerve to avoid them.

He said critics citing accident studies of right turns and the lack of accidents directly attributable to them fail to understand that "ripple effect."

In the summer of 2008 four intersections in the village were outfitted with automated camera systems contracted by Red Speed Illinois at a cost to the village of almost $1,500 per camera. Since then three more intersections have had camera systems installed.

The camera system activates when a car rolls over an in ground sensor more than 1.8 seconds after the light turns red. Red Speed employees then review video clips before sending credible incidents on to Elk Grove police who view the possible violations a second time before issuing tickets.

At the first four intersections made operational in the village, an average of 76% of violations triggered by the system were issued as tickets after review by Red Speed and Elk Grove police.