Drives an Orange Hummer and runs red lights
And she thinks she's being persecuted by red light camera tickets!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-red-light-top-violators...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rich S on
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Any chance you can copy the article into the discussion? Says I need to be a digital plus member to read it.
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Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on
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www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-red-light-top-violators-met-20...
chicagotribune.com
Red light tickets fail to curb some drivers' habits
Since 2007, 574 motorists have been cited more than 20 times
By John Chase, David Kidwell and Alex Richards, Chicago Tribune reporters
December 26, 2013
Advertisement Home-care nurse Mirtise Lister says she spends her days driving her orange Hummer from house to house around the city to care for the sick and elderly.
Crunched for time, she says she does whatever she can to beat red and yellow traffic lights. And more often than the 65-year-old might like, she gets caught.
Lister has accumulated 52 red light tickets from the city of Chicago — the third most of any person since the city's automated camera program took off in 2007, according to ticket records obtained by the Tribune.
"Fifty-two tickets? Oh, I've probably gotten more than that," said Lister, who doesn't appeal the tickets and considers them a consequence of her constant travel. "I just don't have time to go. I pay the money and move on."
The city's top red light violator — with 72 tickets since 2007 — said she can't explain why she kept running red lights even as the tickets piled up.
"I am a college graduate but I am wasting a lot of my money on these tickets," said Helen Hawkins, 69, a longtime educator whose license plate reads "SCHLARS". "It's just one of those things. You know it isn't the right thing to do but you do it.
"People know they shouldn't play with guns. People know they shouldn't take drugs. That's the same issue. My issue is red lights."
Hawkins and Lister are at the top of a list of chronic offenders tagged by Chicago's red light cameras for $100 tickets. Since 2007, 574 license plates have received at least 20 red light tickets, according to a Tribune analysis of nearly 4 million red light ticket records obtained under Illinois' public records law.
Those plates tagged for 20 or more tickets represent a cross-section of nearly every type of driver — and vehicle — on city streets: from passenger cars to tow trucks, from limousines to taxicabs.
"If there are people racking up that many infractions, there's an argument to be made they shouldn't be driving at all," said Scott Kubly, who oversees the red light program as managing deputy commissioner for the city Department of Transportation. "And if there are that many, I think it speaks in support of the whole program. Obviously there is still a safety problem."
The city has issued more than $400 million in red light tickets since it rolled out the early automatic cameras in 2004. The number of tickets has declined in recent years, and city officials have credited the cameras with changing driving habits and reducing the risk of dangerous collisions.
But over that same time, the city has issued 10 or more red light tickets to more than 11,200 license plates. More than 103,700 license plates received five or more red light tickets, according to the city's data.
Several of the city's biggest offenders told the Tribune they don't dispute that most of their tickets are legitimate.
"I'm going to try to use this as a motivation to do the right thing," Hawkins said after being told she was No. 1 on the list.
"Maybe I was negligent, but no more of that," Lister added.
But they say what really irks them is how quickly the city escalates fines on unpaid tickets and then targets them for a Denver boot or impoundment.
"I like law and I like order, and I think everybody should be careful, but don't twist a knife in me. I pay them, but don't do me like that with the boot," Lister said. "You get two tickets (at) $100 each, and you don't know where your next meal is coming from? That's not right."
Hawkins said she is afraid her Honda Odyssey might get the boot soon because she hasn't made a payment lately. The city said Hawkins owes more than $4,200.
"Right now, I'm really trying not to park anywhere publicly where the city usually boots people," she said. "I am supposed to pay $800, but if your money runs short, that is always a problem. And if you miss a payment, and they see your car, they boot it."
Hawkins' red light problem isn't her only run-in with the law. The former head of the Triumphant Charter school on the city's South Side, Hawkins was found guilty in 2010 of using her school credit accounts to pay for thousands of dollars in personal items. Hawkins, who was sentenced to probation, said she now volunteers as an adult educator focused on literacy.
Hawkins and the other chronic offenders reached by the newspaper all said the city is overly aggressive in going after drivers who have received red light tickets, especially those who might not be able to afford the fines.
Serop Sarkissian, who has racked up 37 tickets, said it "seems like there is a red light camera on every corner" in his working-class neighborhood near Irving Park Road and Laramie Avenue on the city's Northwest Side.
Sarkissian, 53, said he couldn't afford to pay all the tickets and eventually the city booted and towed his Toyota Yaris. He said he doesn't have enough to get it back. A city official said Sarkissian owes the city $16,363 in tickets and fees.
"Because of those tickets they have confiscated my beautiful car that I spent $9,000 on," Sarkissian said. "It is really terrible to do this to people."
"I'm not a saint here, but still, in a few days it goes from $100 ticket to $200 to $400. I'm at a loss for words," he said. "I don't have that kind of money to even think about paying for it."
Sarkissian's driver's license is suspended for unpaid tickets, according to a spokeswoman at the Illinois secretary of state's office who said he also has had several moving violations.
City officials said the city has done what it can to give people enough time to pay the fines and to appeal their citations either by mail or in person.
"But when you are talking about a city with 9 million drivers, I think the red light program has been an effective tool for improving safety," Kubly said, adding that the overall number of red light tickets throughout the city has decreased each year since 2009.
"But with anything there is going to be a very small fragment of people who are outliers," he said. "I haven't done the math, but these people can't account for more than a half of 1 percent of all the drivers in this city."
jchase@tribune.com dkidwell@tribune.com arichards@tribune.com
Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC
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I'd say, get 3 red light tickets in a year, then lose your license for a year. Run 10 red lights, lose your license permanently, 'cuz you're an accident waiting to happen.
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Thanks for re-posting! It's hilarious reading people cry victim about this. I normally would feel sorry for people getting nickel 'n dimed but not so much in this case.
Unfortunately the red light violations don't go on driver's records. So even if they get a speeding ticket a judge won't know whether they also get multiple red light violations. They should since it could very well influence how a judge rules.
Thunder Snow said:I'd say, get 3 red light tickets in a year, then lose your license for a year. Run 10 red lights, lose your license permanently, 'cuz you're an accident waiting to happen.
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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on
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These people have a complete disconnect between the choices that they are making while they are driving, and the consequences of those choices. Unbelievable.
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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on
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Why doesn't it go on their record like a speeding ticket?
Rich S said:Thanks for re-posting! It's hilarious reading people cry victim about this. I normally would feel sorry for people getting nickel 'n dimed but not so much in this case.
Unfortunately the red light violations don't go on driver's records. So even if they get a speeding ticket a judge won't know whether they also get multiple red light violations. They should since it could very well influence how a judge rules.
Thunder Snow said:I'd say, get 3 red light tickets in a year, then lose your license for a year. Run 10 red lights, lose your license permanently, 'cuz you're an accident waiting to happen.
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Because the camera sees only the car, not the driver. You can always claim your idiot cousin or friend was driving your car.
Julie Hochstadter said:Why doesn't it go on their record like a speeding ticket?
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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on
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It's a crime anybody with that many tickets can still legally drive.
The degree to which they cannot place the blame for the debit they owe on themselves is amazing.
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Permalink Reply by Gort 12-mile Pinklegneep on
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Oh Those Scofflaw Motorists! Honestly if they want to use our roads,
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Yup that's pretty much it. The city basically doesn't deem it worthwhile to prove who was actually driving. When the ticket comes in the mail I believe it says something to the effect of someone was driving a vehicle registered in your name. I'm sure it'll be the same with the auto-generated speed tickets as well. So those with money will speed, pay the fine, and not care because there's no risk of their license getting suspended. I believe the person in the article that did get their license suspended was due to not paying the fines.
In Poland they take a picture of your face and you get points on your license.
Thunder Snow said:Because the camera sees only the car, not the driver. You can always claim your idiot cousin or friend was driving your car.
Julie Hochstadter said:Why doesn't it go on their record like a speeding ticket?
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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on
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They should check the underside of Ms. Lister's vehicle for pedestrians.
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