Judge reportedly made startling statement about red light tickets

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A startling statement was attributed to a judge who reviews red light tickets in Chicago. He reportedly told a courtroom the majority of people he sees don't deserve the tickets they get.

The argument isn't about whether a driver ran red, but whether he or she has enough time to stop after the light turns yellow.

"It's a money-making deal. It's a scam," said Wally DeRose.

DeRose was driving his wife, who has MS, to a doctor's appointment at the University of Chicago last March when he noticed a familiar flash. What he also noticed was a yellow that seemed to change too fast.

"Before I got halfway through the intersection that light came on again. Even before I was 50 percent through. And I said that's a bunch of baloney," said DeRose.

"He wasn't going to let it go. Having his background in traffic and law enforcement, he knew it was wrong," said Marguerite DeRose.

DeRose has worked in law enforcement for nearly 50 years, including a stint in which he commanded the Gary Police Department's traffic division. He took that red light ticket to an expert who ran a time test. It showed the yellow light wasn't on for 3 seconds, the minimum prescribed by federal guidelines.

In court Monday, the judge tossed DeRose's ticket and then, according to those there:

"The judge said that he is throwing out 60-70% of all the red light violations that come in front of him because all he has to do is look at those violations, see that the yellow light time is under 3 seconds, and he tosses them," said Mike Brockway, TheExpiredMeter.com.

"People are being blamed for technicalities they shouldn't be because it's a stacked house against them. So I go in and level the playing field," said Barnet Fagel, RedLightDoctor.com.

"That's an honest judge. I admire him. He had the courage to stand-up to these blowhard politicians and say it's wrong," said DeRose.

On Tuesday night, a mayoral spokesman said that city stats show fewer than 18-percent of red light tickets are overturned when contested. He said there are no plans to change the length of yellow lights in Chicago.