NORTH PARK — Twelve red-light cameras have been removed from six intersections across the city after a study found they did little to make the streets safer.
The cameras, the city said in a news announcement, were deactivated early Friday at:
• Irving Park Road and Kedzie Avenue
• Peterson Avenue and Pulaski Road
• Grand Avenue and Oak Park Avenue
• 95th Street and Stony Island Avenue
• Western Avenue and 71st Street
• Western Avenue and Pershing Road
A study by the Northwestern University Transportation Center found that the cameras did nothing to protect motorists, city officials said.
RELATED: RED-LIGHT RULES CHANGE AS CITY RELAXES TIME ALLOWED TO RUN A LIGHT
The red-light cameras did not reduce the number of crashes even though there were a high number of violations recorded, according to the study.
The 104-page study compared before-and-after crash data at 85 intersections with red-light cameras to 103 intersections that were not monitored by cameras.
Overall, Chicago's red-light camera program should continue because it led to a 19 percent reduction in serious side-angle and turning crashes, a 10 percent reduction in injury-producing crashes and a measurable “spillover effect” that improved safety at intersections without cameras, the study found.
