Speed cameras save lives
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Nope, but they are great for revenue:
Chicago’s speed cameras in 10 months churned out nearly as many tickets as the prior 3 years combined, handing every city household 2.2 tickets. The 8-fold spike came immediately after the city started ticketing at 6 mph over the limit.
Chicago speed cameras in 2021 sent out a ticket every 11 seconds, meaning that by the time you finish reading this article there will be 21 more drivers unaware they have a rude surprise coming in the mail.
City speed cameras issued 2.3 million tickets through late October, slapping drivers with nearly as many speed camera violations in 10 months as the city issued in 2018, 2019 and 2020 combined. The spike came March 1, the start of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s new policy to ticket drivers going 6 mph over the limit.
And the spike was big. Speed cameras churned out eight times as many tickets per day: $250,000 worth.
Grand total for the first 10 months of 2021: $73.8 million in speed camera fines. So in 10 months, Chicago made about $30 million more than it had in each of the prior three years.
An analysis of Chicago Department of Finance data found Ortiz’ fines coincided with a significant spike in city speed camera tickets immediately after Lightfoot’s stricter policy was imposed March 1. Chicago averaged 1,178 speed camera tickets a day before March 1, and 9,596 a day after.
Lightfoot lowered the 10-mph threshold for issuing speed camera tickets, nailing motorists caught driving 6 to 10 mph over the limit with a $35 ticket in the mail. Drivers going 11 mph or more over the limit are fined $100.
Lightfoot pushed the lower limits as imperative to “keep communities safe,” but what they have done is to create a huge cash machine for a city constantly on the financial edge without demonstrating significant crash reductions. She also has drawn sharp criticism for appearing to renege on her promise to reform the city’s fines and fees program so they do not fall so heavily on needy residents to generate revenue under the guise of safety.
The revenue bump is significant. Each camera averaged $460,976 in fines through the end of October, an increase of $213,631 per camera from 2019.
And while there are 160 speed cameras in Chicago – the only Illinois city to use them – some of the cameras are golden. Nineteen speed cameras each generated more than a $1 million for the city by the end of October. Three of those cameras generated more than $2 million and one topped $3 million.
A recent study from Case Western Reserve University, or CWRU, found that red-light cameras do not increase traffic safety, despite claims made to the contrary by public officials in Illinois and elsewhere.
Researchers looked at traffic accident data in Houston after the city implemented its red-light camera program in 2006, and after residents voted to eliminate it in 2010. Analyzing the Houston data and similar data from Dallas, the study concluded that red-light camera enforcement had no measurable positive effect on public safety.
More than 400 communities across the United States operate red-light cameras, including many municipalities in Illinois. In Chicago, the city’s flawed and corrupt red-light camera program has cost motorists millions.
The analysis found that while side-impact accidents, such as T-bone collisions, did indeed decrease, red-light camera enforcement actually increased the number of “non-angle” accidents, such as rear-end collisions. Causing drivers to brake more abruptly ahead of red lights, the study found red-light cameras to have changed the pattern of traffic accidents, rather than reduce them. Moreover, since non-angle accidents are more common than side-impact accidents, the increase that resulted from red-light camera enforcement likely led to more accidents overall, according to the study.
Data on types of injuries caused by traffic accidents, the study notes, also fail to support the claim that red-light cameras improve traffic safety.
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“Don’t make me repeat myself”
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You need to try driving in the UK, the freaking things are everywhere.
Over there, at least, there's evidence that they did reduce road deaths - putting them on the motorways has significantly changed the way the Brits drive. I remember back in the early 90's routinely driving at 90mph plus on Motorways, and sometimes on A-roads. My own car wouldn't manage it, but the rentals....
The ones on minor roads seem to be more involved with making money than safety.
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Well, in one way they do save lives. Cops aren’t being killed as often for pulling somebody over…
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There's one nearby on a downhill and I KNOW I can get it to trigger on my bike if I really hammer. I haven't been able to try in the winter due to the ice but now I think I can.
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“Don’t make me repeat myself”
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@jon-nyc said in Speed cameras save lives:
Aqua - ever thought about making a paper lookalike of the license plate of someone you don't like, tape it over your plate, and run through half a dozen of these?
Yeah but in MD they do check the car to make sure it matches the plate. But hell I might still try.
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@Doctor-Phibes said in Speed cameras save lives:
You need to try driving in the UK, the freaking things are everywhere.
Over there, at least, there's evidence that they did reduce road deaths - putting them on the motorways has significantly changed the way the Brits drive. I remember back in the early 90's routinely driving at 90mph plus on Motorways, and sometimes on A-roads. My own car wouldn't manage it, but the rentals....
The ones on minor roads seem to be more involved with making money than safety.
I believe they are useful in residential areas and school zones. Not so much elsewhere.
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“Don’t make me repeat myself”
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@jon-nyc said in Speed cameras save lives:
They rolled speed cameras out in NYC school zones over the heavy objection of the police.
Because cops get them too, whereas if they’re pulled over by a patrolman, they’ll not get one. Also they can’t fix the tickets for their friends.
What were their stated reasons for objecting?
Education is extremely important.
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“Don’t make me repeat myself”
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