Confronted with questions about a flurry of red light camera tickets stamped with yellow times below the 3-second minimum, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration said the fluctuation of hundredths of a second was normal — imperceptible to anyone behind the wheel of a car.
It turns out that fraction of a second makes a big difference to drivers and to the city’s coffers.
The Emanuel administration on Friday acknowledged that it had changed the rules on what qualifies for a $100 ticket, quietly directing its new red light camera vendor to tag drivers even when the duration of a yellow light slips just below the 3-second standard set by the city.
The policy generated 77,000 more tickets and nearly $8 million in revenue for the city over the last six months.
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