I wrote last week that
Chicago had declined to renew the contract of Redflex, its’ red light camera
company for the last several years. More news has trickled out the last few
days as the Chicago Tribune has reported that Redflex has
fired the top vice president that handled its’ Chicago account, and that the
city has focused on a finalist to take the place of Redflex starting this
summer.
Redflex fired one of
their top executives, Aaron Rosenberg, and simultaneously filed a lawsuit
against him. The firing and lawsuit stems from unethical conduct
involving Chicago transportation official
John Bills, who received lavish vacations from a Redflex consultant who
received more than $570,000 in company commissions. Redflex filed a
lawsuit against Rosenberg in Arizona Superior Court in Phoenix seeking damages
from the man it once credited for much of its expansion in the
U.S. “Mr. Rosenberg engaged in a protracted and covert scheme to
misappropriate funds from Redflex through the submission to the company of
false requests for expense reimbursement,” the suit alleges. “Mr.
Rosenberg’s conduct was intentional, outrageous and committed with an evil mind
with the intent of causing injury to and/or in deliberate disregard of the
unjustifiably substantial risk of significant harm to Redflex.” The
suit also alleged Rosenberg’s “dishonest and unethical conduct has
substantially harmed Redflex’s business reputation and goodwill throughout the
United States and has and will continue to cause Redflex significant
damage.”
In
other news Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions Inc. was selected
Friday by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration as the preferred bidder to launch
an automated camera system to tag speeders near public schools and parks,
a program that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. ATS and the
other finalist, Maryland-based Xerox State & Local Solutions Inc., were
chosen last year from a field of nine bidders. The two companies participated
in a month long test of their equipment in Chicago during which no tickets
were issued. City officials have declined to discuss the evaluation process.
These
are all interesting developments but I think taxpayers want to know if
these programs, which generate millions of dollars for the city, actually make
intersections safer for pedestrians and drivers. Is there a decrease in
accidents based on these cameras? As I have written in the past, many experts say
no. I am anxious to see the results of the investigation that is supposed to be
called for by the city council about the safety of these cameras. If it can be
shown that there are less car crashes and pedestrian accidents at these
intersections and the city makes money, then I guess it’s a win win. If not,
then the city needs to reevaluate these programs altogether.
If you
or someone you love has been injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truckaccident, then call Chicago injury attorney, Aaron Bryant, for a free consultation at 312-588-3384.