“I just don’t think that duty includes lining the pockets of the politicians in city hall for a bad policy.”Ĭhicago is the only Illinois city to use speed cameras. I believe we all have a responsibility to be safe on the road,” Gumucio said. “Has it made me a safer driver? No, I’ve always been a safe driver. The problem was the number of collisions away from monitored zones increased as drivers abruptly slowed down to avoid fines, then quickly sped up after passing the surveilled intersections.Īn Arizona study found no effect on collisions from the cameras.Īnd University of Illinois-Chicago research also concluded there was “little relationship between the number of tickets issued and the safety impact of cameras.” Chicago traffic data did not show a significant reduction in 2021 vehicle crashes after the policy took effect. Others found cameras led to more dangerous driving.Ī 2017 speed camera study in Great Britain found safety was highly localized around intersections with speed cameras. COVID-19 lockdowns likely cut traffic deaths in 2020, but there were only 108 fatal crashes in 2019.Īre the cameras hurting safety? It’s difficult to say for sure from the Chicago data, but studies show safety improvements from increasing tickets are negligible. Twenty more people died in crashes on Chicago’s streets in 2021 than in 2020, for a total of 167 deaths. Lightfoot and city aldermen said the cameras and the lowered tolerance was about safety, not revenue. “I hadn’t received a traffic fine in 30 years, and suddenly I had two tickets from Chicago speed cams.” This time I was caught driving 37 mph,” Gumucio said. “I paid the $35 ticket, then discovered I had a second. The cameras in 2021 issued 2,817,554 tickets: one every 11 seconds, filling city coffers at the rate of $250,000 a day. Above that, the speed camera fines are $100. Of that amount, almost two-thirds, or $55.9 million, came just from the $35 tickets Mayor Lori Lightfoot wanted issued starting March 1, 2021, for going 6 to 10 mph over the limit. “I found out by email I got my first ticket from the city last August for going 36 mph.”Īn Illinois Policy Institute investigation found city speed cameras in 2021 collected $89 million from motorists – more than doubling revenues generated from the cameras in previous years. I’ve worked with a lot of trauma patients who were in car accidents, so I’ve always been cautious when it comes to speeding,” said Gumucio, who lives in the Sauganash neighborhood. Ramiro Gumucio – his first speeding fine in three decades. Annual ticket revenues doubled, but fatal crashes still increased.Ĭhicago speed cameras issued 2.81 million citations in 2021, sending more tickets to drivers in one year than there are residents in the nation’s third-largest city. Speed cameras issue more tickets in 2021 than Chicago has residentsĬhicago drivers were issued more speed tickets in 2021 than there are city residents.
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