Drivers Deserve to Know if Cash Cow Speed Cameras ReallyMake Streets Safer

Like most people, I hate speed cameras.

To me, they represent everything that's wrong with how government uses technology to pick ourpockets without getting their hands dirty.

In the golden days of speed traps -- when police would post up on the side of the road with a radargun at the exact spot the speed limit dropped to catch and curb heavy-footed drivers -- the systemdidn't seem so rigged against regular folks.

A driver had the chance to appeal to a police officer's human side by shedding a few crocodile tearsand pleading for a warning. You had the opportunity to see if the officer had the goods on you byasking to see speed-gun proof of the alleged violation.

The speed camera at 2448 N. Clybourn Ave. was ranked 108 in fines-per-day out of the city's 146cameras. View Full Caption

DNAinfo/Paul Biasco

And if that didn't work, there was always a chance to beat the rap in court by arguing the speed gunmust not have been calibrated correctly, or there was the chance the ticketing officer would miss thehearing and the fine would get dropped.

Now, the electronic speed trap heartlessly picks your pocket and protesting feels futile.

Any truthful government bureaucrat will tell you the speed trap -- whether it's a strategically placedofficer or a revenue-generating camera -- has never been about speeding or safety.

"A speed trap exists wherever traffic enforcement is focused on extracting revenue from driversinstead of improving safety, made possible by speed limits posted below the prevailing flow oftraffic," according to the driver advocacy website Motorists.org.

After considering DNAinfo Chicago's comprehensive look at speed camera data -- and taking intoaccount the last three speed camera tickets I've been hit with since October -- it's pretty clear to methat Chicago's most lucrative electronic speed traps fit that description.

Take the speed camera in Washington Park, which has racked up more than $3 million in fines. EvenAld. Willie Cochran (20th) told DNAinfo Chicago he wants that particular camera -- which haspegged him for speeding three times -- removed from his ward because there's no "proof that itincreases safety and stops traffic accidents."

But government protectors of speed camera revenue argue that something called "available data"indeed offers statistical proof that speed cameras are effective ways of slowing down traffic.

Mike Claffey, spokesman for Chicago's Department of Transporation, cites a 31-percent reduction intickets after the first six months of a speed camera's life. He said 67 percent of speeders near parksdid not repeat the violation.

And, Claffey said, consider this scary statistic: A pedestrian hit by a car going 20 mph has a 95percent chance of survival, compared to a 15 percent chance of living if she's struck by a vehiclegoing 40 mph.

None of the available data provided by the city to reporters Benjamin Woodward and Tanveer Ali,however, offered statistical proof that the cameras have made streets safer, protected more childrenor reduced accidents or saved a life because a pedestrian was hit at a lower speed.

I got pinched going more than 11 mph over the limit by the camera near Wrightwood Park onAshland Avenue -- a four-lane divided highway without a posted speed limit in sight -- at about 10p.m.

Available data says that particular speed camera has issued more than 20,000 tickets worth nearly$780,000 in fines since March 2014. But the city offered no evidence that the camera reducedaccidents.

The speed camera on Irving Park Road between Clark and Seminary streets -- a stretch of roadsandwiched between cemeteries -- has racked up more than $1.5 million in fines since January 2014.

That electronic speed trap was picked as part of the City's Children's Safety Zone Program, whichaims to protect children and other pedestrians by reminding motorists to slow down and obey speedlaws near parks and schools.

According to a map of Illinois Department of Transportation crash data posted on Ald. Tom Tunney's44th Ward website, that speed camera is located on a block that had no accidents involving youth,bicyclists or pedestrians between 2009 and 2011.

I can tell you from experience, though, that the speed camera has changed some driving behaviorson that stretch of Irving Park. I've seen more than a few westbound drivers slam on their brakes justbefore passing the camera.

While there's no available data on how that method of avoiding speed cameras affects traffic safety, Ican tell you, in my case, the sudden mid-block stop that saved both of us from a ticket nearly causeda fender bender.

Certainly, there are plenty of Chicagoans who'll say, "If you hate getting speeding tickets so muchthen just slow down, pal."

But after more than a year -- and $58 million in speed cam fines stuffed in city coffers -- it's wortharguing that if the electronic speed traps are for our own safety, it's about time City Hall collectsnew crash data near the 147 speed cameras to show drivers we're not getting conned.

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