More Illinois suburbs are ditching red-light cameras. Drivers should celebrate after the devices have issued over $1.5 billion in fines and failed to make roads any safer.

Red-light cameras on the city’s South Side issued the most tickets per intersection between October 2023 and September 2024, more than 2.5 times as many as cameras on the North Side. Citywide, fines are up to $61.4 million for past 12 months.

Local governments generated $500 million from red-light camera tickets since 2019, with Chicago alone collecting $223.8 million. Total since 2008: $1.56 billion.

Two bills on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk would spend $20 million to add license plate monitoring cameras to 6,600 miles of highways in 22 counties. Civil rights groups fret about abuse. Illinois State Police can’t say they increase safety.

After paying $1 billion in red-light camera fees, Illinoisans deserve to know more about how the devices are being pushed with their local political leaders.