Experts: Chicago's short yellow light times, red light cameras a risky mix

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Chicago has the nation's largest red light camera system and the shortest allowable yellow lights — a unique and dangerous combination that makes rear-end crashes more likely across the city, a Tribune investigation has found.

The three-second yellow lights commonly used in Chicago are too short even if drivers are observing the speed limit — and many of them don't — said traffic researcher Timothy Gates, whose work is the basis for revisions to national standards on signal timing.

Add in red light cameras, and "it creates an unsafe environment where people are stopping too abruptly because they are afraid of getting a ticket," Gates said.

Already out of step with other cities' yellow light practices, Chicago has likewise ignored a growing body of research suggesting that adding half a second to the city's three-second yellows would give drivers a better chance of stopping safely.

For Rahm Emanuel isn't not about safety : it's about the Benjamins.