Yet nine months after saying, "I do," Schaumburg has called the whole thing off, citing no improvements in safety and a flood of angry-motorist grief, after red-light cameras at the village's lone picture-snapping intersection netted more than $1 million in tickets.

The dissolution of this once-happy union between a town and its red-light system is not a first for Illinois -- Bolingbrook turned off all its cameras in 2007 -- but it shows the red-hot debate over red-light cameras, even in cities that have already signed on the dotted line. In fact, it is often only after the cameras -- and their copious tickets -- arrive that the revenue-versus-safety arguments begin in earnest.

In Schaumburg, the problems started almost on Day One. More in the jump!

"We felt like, 'Wait, something is wrong here,' " Village Trustee Marge Connelly said before the board voted unanimously Tuesday night to terminate its contract with RedSpeed, Illinois' largest red-light camera company.

"We're not condoning running red lights, but in our case this was not the right way to handle it."

What was "wrong" in Schaumburg's case began with trying to do something right, several trustees said, recalling their unanimous vote last September. "From the outset this was all about safety," said Trustee George Dunham.

"Our board never went into this intending to collect a lot of revenue," said Ken Fritz, the village manager. "We felt that if it really improved public safety, it was good, and if it helped us with revenue, that was good too."

When Schaumburg first signed on to the red-light camera business last year, officials could hardly wait to get started, which is why they chose Meacham and Woodfield Roads as the first of their 10 planned camera locations. That intersection wasn't chosen because it had a lot of accidents -- the spot isn't even in Schaumburg's top 10 -- but because all of the intersection's approaches are in the village's boundaries and are local roads. This let village officials deploy the cameras much faster, avoiding the state approval needed for cameras on state roads.

Almost immediately, that selection paid off, literally, as cameras there flashed as fast as a paparazzi pack, mostly nabbing drivers for making right turns on red without a complete stop. In just 2 ½ months, the cameras spit out about 10,000 tickets, each a $100 violation.

"I was shocked, frankly, that the number of violations were so high for the right on a red light," Connelly said. "A lot of people were just confused about that intersection."

And they were angry: Shoppers snared as they visited nearby Woodfield Mall vowed to take their business elsewhere. (Marc Strich, the mall's general manager, said he kindly directed shoppers to the Village Hall.) Other motorists complained too. In response, village officials told RedSpeed to stop processing right-turn-on-red violations and only forward ones when drivers turned left on red or went straight through the intersection on red.

RedSpeed did just that until May, when the company told police officials "that because it was so labor-intensive to go through all violations compared to the number sent to us for final approval, they did not feel the time spent by their personnel was justified," wrote Chief Brian Howerton in a June memo, recommending that the village terminate its RedSpeed contract.

By the end of that month, RedSpeed was forwarding only left-turn-on-red violations, which totaled just 12 for all of May. Such a small haul hardly justified the camera and ticketing system, which from start to finish cost the village about $400,000 in fees to RedSpeed.

In that same period, "I would guess the village received about $550,000 to $600,000 net revenue," Fritz said.

Schaumburg officials stated Tuesday night that they terminated the RedSpeed contract because crash data, prepared by the Police Department in June, revealed that the intersection does not have a problem with running-red-light accidents nor did it have one in 2008 when the cameras were installed. That fact angers Brian Costin, president of the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition, a citizens group that campaigned against the cameras last September. "I think Mayor [Al] Larson and the board did not do their due diligence," he said.

Schaumburg getting out of the red-light camera business does not mean Illinois cities are no longer interested in signing up for the systems: On Monday, River Forest's board voted to conditionally hire RedSpeed to install two traffic cameras along Harlem Avenue.

But that board also voted 3-2 to endorse a two-tiered fine structure that would give a break to motorists ticketed for making a rolling right turn on red. Trustee Steve Hoke alluded to recent Tribune stories that found the overwhelming majority of camera-generated tickets were for making illegal right turns on red, even though traffic-safety experts say such infractions rarely lead to serious damage or injuries.

RedSpeed sales consultant Michael Lebert told the board he didn't know whether the company would agree to Hoke's plan, noting that RedSpeed operates cameras for nearly 60 Illinois municipalities, all of which charge $100 per ticket, the maximum allowed under the state's red-light camera law.

He also warned that such a fine structure could pose a technological challenge and lead to errors.

Source: Chicago Tribune

I think he was right.

Ahh, the revenue maker: ticketing for no front plate. Only enforced by the states who need some extra money. In this video, a guy finds the cop who ticketed him for no front plate in his personal Mustang, also having no front plate. Such bs!

The Cadence-and-Camaro saga continues. Cadence, which makes interior parts for the Camaro, declared bankruptcy last August. GM sued the supplier to recover the specialized tooling machines it could need in order to continue Camaro production - or will it need to have the machines made again. GM also refrained from paying Cadence $4.9 million that Cadence says it is owed for "parts, labor, and equipment."

Cadence has now countersued The General, not just to get the money, but because that money is an integral part of Cadence's liquidation plans. Without it, Cadence maintains there will be "substantial harm to Cadence's bankruptcy estate." The pre-production Camaros are already in the works, and we have no idea how this development will affect the production version of the car. This battle can't be good for either company, but it's especially bad news for all of the Camaro faithful who are patiently awaiting the return of their king.

Source: AutoBlog

The gearhead "Tonight Show" host is being sued for his $180,000 auction purchase of a classic car that once belonged to a Macy's heir.

The daughter of late hot-wheels enthusiast John Straus says the owners of the E. 76th St. garage that housed the 1931 Model J Duesenberg for more than 50 years schemed to get Leno the car through a phony auction.

"It was a sham," said Nathan Goldberg, a lawyer for Straus' daughter, Wendy Lubin. "It was designed by the garage company to provide Jay Leno with an unlawful private sale."

The car had been in the Straus family since 1931, when Straus' dad, Herbert, had it delivered to the family's home in Red Bank, N.J. Full story after the jump!

John Straus bought the Duesenberg from his mother, and in the early 1950s put it and a 1930 Rolls Royce in the Windsor - Garage on the upper East Side.

"This car meant a lot to this family," Goldberg said. "It was a precious family heirloom."

The suit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, accuses the Windsor Garage owners of ¬taking advantage of John Straus' dementia to cook up the 2005 sale to Leno, who lusted after the Duesenberg.

"Leno knew this car was not for sale, and Straus had made that clear to him," said Goldberg, adding that it is worth more than $1.5 million.

A lawyer for Leno and the garage said the cars went on the block only after Straus became "extremely delinquent" in paying his storage fee.

"Mr. Leno bought the car in good faith," lawyer Bruce Bronster said.

The garage's director of maintenance ended up with the Rolls, the suit says, when the company in 2005 refused to accept a $36,000 check from the ailing Straus for garaging the cars.

"They took advantage of a man suffering from a debilitating illness," Goldberg said.

Nonsense, Bronster said.

"The allegations will be proven in a court of law to be untrue," he said.

In the 2007 book "The Hemi in the Barn," Leno told how he concocted a tale to keep other prospective buyers away after Straus refused to sell it to him.

The suit says the car is in Leno's Big Dog Garage in Burbank, Calif., with a slew of other classic cars and custom motorcycles.
Straus, whose grandparents co-owned Macy's and perished aboard the Titanic, died in May at age 87.

"Even to his dying day, when he was approached by car enthusiasts about the Duesenberg, he would become entranced," Goldberg said. "That car was a part of his family."

Source: NY Daily News

General Motors Corp. is cracking down on workers and retirees who it says have improperly extended employee discounts to non-relatives and have cost the automaker more than $450,000. Lawsuits filed by GM say company audits found the discounts had saved buyers anywhere from $1,000 to almost $9,000.

The Detroit News says it isn't clear how many lawsuits have been filed. The newspaper is reporting that some of the lawsuits were filed after this month's announcement by GM that it is temporarily extending such discounts to everyone on almost all of its 2008 and some of its 2009 models.

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson says the timing of the lawsuits and the extended discounts was coincidental. He says that while such uses of employee discounts might have been overlooked in the past, the company now is closely watching its costs.

Source: USA Today

The class action lawsuit on behalf of a New York man and other buyers of the 2007 Roush Stage 3 BlackJack vehicles claimed they paid a premium price of nearly $59,000 (30,000 pounds) last year because Ford advertised that only 100 would be made.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, accused Ford and Roush Performance Products Inc of manufacturing at least 100 more of the vehicles in 2008.

Representatives of Ford were not immediately available to comment, a company spokeswoman said.

"The vehicles purchased by the plaintiff and the other class members were not as unique or rare as the defendants had stated them to be," the complaint said. "Their value from scarcity and as collectors' items were and are dramatically less than the buyers had been led to believe their value would be."

Ford manufactured a limited run of a modified version of the Ford Mustang, made especially for conversion by Roush into the Stage 3 BlackJack, the complaint said.

Drew Conner of Bardonia, N.Y., and at least 100 other people are members of the class seeking a jury trial and more than $12 million in damages. Wow, that's a bit ridiculous, ha.

Source: Yahoo

Bulls top draft pick Derrick Rose was fined $1,000 Monday for driving his car over 100 mph -- an offense the basketball player called "a stupid thing.'' The NBA's No. 1 pick sat patiently in a Kane County courthouse as five others were called to Judge Robert J. Morrow's bench to answer traffic and misdemeanor charges before stepping to the bench to plead guilty to speeding.

On April 29, Illinois State Police clocked the 19-year-old Rose going 105 in a 65-mph zone on Interstate 88. Noting Rose's clean driving record, Morrow placed Rose on six months of court supervision in addition to the $1,000 fine -- which he paid in court -- and ordered him to complete a four-hour online driver safety course.

"Basically I did a stupid thing,'' Rose said afterward, explaining he was driving back to Chicago and wasn't paying attention to his speed. "I'm sorry for what I did."

Source: Sun Times

General Motors could owe millions of dollars in repair claims and other fees if settlements of two class-action lawsuits are approved in a California state court. The suits involve Dex-Cool engine coolant. GM has used Dex-Cool since the 1995 model year.

Thousands of customers allege in the lawsuits that the coolant failed to protect corrosion of V-6 engines in more than 30 models of cars and light trucks from the 1995-2004 model years. The suits also allege that Dex-Cool forms a "rusty sludge" in the vehicle cooling systems, causing coolant leaks. These problems led to engine failure in some cases.

Full story after the jump!


In a hearing scheduled Aug. 29, a California Superior Court judge in Alameda will rule on whether to approve or dismiss the class-action suit, which affects customers in 49 states. The only state not included, Missouri, has its own hearing scheduled on Sept. 5.

GM would owe up to $800 in cash reimbursements for repairs to current and former customers who owned or leased the select vehicles. An estimated 20 million customers are covered by the settlement, according to court documents.

The customers eligible for reimbursements have until Oct. 27 to submit a claim.

Under the settlements, GM would be forced to pay up to $27 million in attorney fees and expenses and in incentive awards to several customers that initially brought the suit.

GM also would be responsible for all costs to give notice of the settlement, including direct mailings and advertisements in nationally circulated magazines and newspapers. An estimate for those costs was not disclosed in court documents.

A GM spokeswoman declined to comment about the proposed settlements.

GM said when it debuted Dex-Cool that the coolant lasted five years or 150,000 miles, almost twice as long as conventional coolants.

In April 2003, two cases were filed in California and Missouri courts. A three-week jury trial was scheduled for November 2007. One week before the scheduled trial, the plaintiffs and GM agreed in principle to a settlement.

According to court documents, GM argued that customers neglected maintenance instructions for the vehicles, which caused the alleged problems with engine or cooling systems.

Orange alert

Dex-Cool, which Texaco made for GM, was bright orange. The color differentiated Dex-Cool from conventional coolants, which are green.

GM took this and other measures in an effort to prevent customers from mixing Dex-Cool with other coolants. Underhood labels cautioned "Use Dex-Cool Coolant Only." And GM added a supplement to its 1995 owner's manual to alert consumers and service technicians.

While the automaker denies the allegations, it agreed to settle certain repair costs customers paid during the first seven years or 150,000 miles of vehicle ownership or lease, whichever came first.

Under the settlement, customers are eligible for a $400 reimbursement if a repair related to Dex-Cool was made within five years. If the repair cost more than $1,500, the reimbursement would be for 40 percent of the cost of the repair, up to $800.

If a repair was made within six years after vehicle delivery, a customer is eligible for up to $100. A customer is eligible for up to $50 if the repair was made in the seventh year. The settlement allows owners who made multiple repairs to apply for multiple repayments.

The following repairs are eligible:

1. Replaced lower intake manifold gasket on model years 1995-2003, with 3.1- or 3.4-liter V-6 engine in:

• Buick Century, Rendezvous, Regal, Skylark

• Chevrolet Impala, Lumina, Malibu, Monte Carlo, Venture, Corsica, Beretta, Lumina APV

• Oldsmobile Alero, Cutlass (Supreme and Ciera), Silhouette

• Pontiac Aztek, Grand Am, Grand Prix, Montana, Trans Sport

2. Repairs caused by engine coolant sealing issues on model years 1995-2004, with 3.8-liter V-6 engine in:

• Buick LeSabre, Park Avenue, Regal, Riviera

• Chevrolet Camaro, Impala, Lumina, Monte Carlo

• Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight, Intrigue, LSS, Ninety-Eight

• Pontiac Bonneville, Firebird, Grand Prix

3. Repairs caused by cooling system sludge on model years 1995-2000, with 4.3-liter V-6 engine in:

• Chevrolet Blazer, S10

• GMC Envoy, Jimmy, S15

• Oldsmobile Bravada

Source: Automotive News

Indiana State Police officials recently purchased 18 2008 Ford Mustangs, and what better way to break them in than by hitting the road course at O’Reilly Raceway Park?

ISP Sgt. Rich Myers said the department used Ford Mustangs in the 1980s for traffic patrol, but then switched to Chevrolet Camaros. When Chevrolet stopped making Camaros, he said the ISP began using their Crown Victoria patrol cars for enforcement details before deciding to switch back to Mustangs.

Myers said there will one Mustang in each ISP district.

“They will be a traffic enforcement tool, just like the motorcycles,” he said.

Several troopers gathered at O’Reilly Raceway Park earlier this week to test their driving skills and get a feel for the new Mustangs.

Kennedy also said motorists will likely not notice the troopers since Mustangs are a popular car and these models are not marked.

“They don’t even have the antennas,” she added.

Source: Flyer Group

Predictable is boring. Who the hell would think turning a Cadillac XLR into a 10.5 Outlaw car? Some dudes with deep pockets and a vision. Nothing too much has been said about the build besides the power plant. How does a twin turbo 632 Big Block Chevy on alky sound?