March 27, 2019
Dear editor;
The concept survival of the fittest, is widely understood.
It is the purpose of this letter to address a less-considered problem of the cost of driving one’s own vehicle. The known costs are driver’s license renewal, sticker renewal, liability insurance, the vehicle, gasoline, and maintenance.
Now we add the cost of a red light ticket, $100 on the first occurrence. Although I am requesting a court hearing regarding the length of the preceding yellow lights, I am realistically adding tickets to my budget. If you have not studied the red light intersections on New York Street, Eola Road and Commons Drive in Aurora, each has red-light monitors. Perhaps learn from my incident. My video shows a two-second yellow light. When I checked it Tuesday, March 26 at 6:30 p.m., I observed the Eola intersection to have a one- to two-second yellow light. Yes, it is not a typo. I observed a U-turn into the red. The camera did not appear to flash, but I realized the light was obviously not set fairly. One can not stop in less than two seconds, especially if going 45 miles per hour. More to my surprise was my observing: The yellow light was clearly lengthened to three to four seconds, much longer than March 15 at 7 p.m.. The only way to avoid these fines would be to always slow up if the green is not entirely fresh. You do not know how long the yellow light will be. You can be sure, probably, of a ticket if the light has changed to red within the few moments.
We must add the risk of sharing the road with a driver under the influence of cannabis. It is likely to become legal for anyone over 21. At the town hall meeting last Saturday, March 23, the Kane County State’s attorney pointed out the difficulty law enforcement will have in detecting impaired drivers.
On a positive note, more City bike paths (lanes) are being added in downtown Aurora. Weather-cooperating, bicycling is a good alternative to the costs of driving. We would get the sheer numbers of cars on the streets reduced a little.
Mary A. Goetsch
Aurora