Posted by Mike Riopell on Wed, 05/16/2012 - 15:08

A post from our Springfield colleague Ryan Voyles:

A plan to extend yellow lights by one second at intersections with red-light cameras has been placed in political purgatory.

The proposal, sponsored by state Sen. Dan Duffy, a Republican from Lake Barrington, and Rep. Ed Sullivan, a Republican from Mundelein, was approved by the Senate in March.

But House Speaker Michael Madigan hasn't released it from the House's Rules Committee, so it won't be debated.

Madigan, as well as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and others in the city, have opposed the plan citing safety concerns over extending yellow lights.

Duffy said that stance was "concerning," and that studies have shown extending yellow lights have sharply decreased the amount of accidents at intersections. He said their opposition was simply about money being generated by tickets.

"This is safety versus revenue issue, which isn't something that should be occurring," Duffy said.