New traffic ticket cameras set to be placed in busy intersections in Carol Stream are raising a host of questions about their safety and legality.

The cameras could also add fuel to the fire of local motorists who complain about the number of citations handed out by Carol Stream law enforcement along North Avenue.

The complaints may not just be sour grapes from lead-footed drivers.

Last month, a group called the National Motorists Association ranked Carol Stream in second place for the “worst speed traps in the state.”

Carol Stream was ranked as having the second worst speed trap in the state behind Naperville. The village shared the ranking with southwest-suburban New Lenox and downstate Peoria.

The finding was reported in a recent edition of USA Today, which urged people to avoid Carol Stream because of excessive ticketing.

Earlier this month, Mayor Frank Saverino joked that the Carol Stream Police Department “was probably disappointed they were ranked No. 2 instead of No. 1.”

However, the list is no laughing matter to the association, which says it is dedicated to promoting “the interests and rights of North American motorists.” The group defines a speed trap as “any time the enforcement is focused on revenue instead of enforcing safety,” according to the association.

The association provides tips on how to fight a speeding ticket on its Web site and objects to the use of red light ticket cameras, saying they are unfair and often malfunction.

Motorists Association spokesman Aaron Quinn said the list of speed traps was compiled on its Web site, speedtrap.org. The site allows Web users to submit locations of speed traps to warn fellow drivers. Site users submitted 15 locations in the village as supposed speed traps.

The Carol Stream Village Board Dec. 3 authorized Redflex Traffic Systems of Scottsdale, Ariz., to install the cameras. Violators are mailed traffic citations.

Quinn said he thought the cameras will only worsen the village’s reputation for speed traps.

“Red light cameras do not improve safety at all,” he said. “In fact, studies show they increase the number of accidents at intersections, especially rear-end collisions; even the camera companies admit that.

“The real reason for these cameras is not safety, it is to add revenue. The cameras are a threat to driver safety,” Quinn added. “Now, motorists have to worry that someone is going to wildly slam on their brakes every time they approach an intersection and see a camera.”

Quinn said alternatives to the cameras are increasing yellow light times and adding an “all red clearance” feature to traffic signals, a brief time interval that occurs when lights change colors. Instead of having the opposite direction light change from red to green immediately, all directions have a short interval of red light to give traffic a chance to clear the intersection before the signal changes.

Carol Stream officials believe the lights will improve traffic safety and create a “halo area” of improved driving for blocks around the camera intersections.

The precise number of cameras and their locations have not been finalized; however, police recommended placing the cameras at the intersections of North and Gary avenues, North Avenue and Schmale Road, North Avenue and Kuhn Road, and Gary Avenue and Lies Road.

Police estimate at least one person per hour breaks the traffic rules at the intersection of North and Gary avenues.

A monthly hearing date for people contesting the tickets will be scheduled and 50 to 100 people are expected to show up for each hearing. The only permitted defense of the mailed violation is if the vehicle was reported stolen prior to the time of the ticket, or if the vehicle was in a funeral procession or avoiding an emergency vehicle at the time of the violation.

Tickets may be no greater than $100. Fees double if they are not paid in time; 90 percent of tickets are expected to be the result of motorists who make illegal right turns on red lights. Motorists who stop their vehicle past the crosswalk line are also subject to be ticketed.

The city of Chicago is being sued for its red light program. If the courts determine the program is illegal, Carol Stream may have to refund all mailed camera tickets.

Carol Stream Police Chief Rick Willing said he does not believe the courts will overturn the legality of traffic ticket cameras on constitutional grounds.

“I think (the cameras) are pretty well established,” he said. “In some states, they even have cameras that monitor speeds for speed limit violations.”