Chicagoist: New Bill Would Use Cameras To Enforce Speed Limits

SednaBoo

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:38:13 -0600

If we weren't paying so much of our taxes to line corrupt officials pockets, we wouldn't have to do this.

chicagodom

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 10:04:46 -0600

It's a great idea. People have forgotten driving is a privilege. Friday night I drove down Lake Shore Drive around 10 pm. The posted speed limit is 40; I was doing 55 in the slow lane and people were flying by me! Why was I speeding? Because if I drove slower I would have been a hazard to navigation and probably caused an accident. Don't like the laws or the taxes? Move. More room for us.

formula27

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:03:59 -0600

It is difficult not to get angry with stuff like this. Double state income tax, increase every fee you can in any way associated with parking or driving(because after all it's a "privilege" not a right), tollways, bs seat belt laws, red light cameras, now speeding cameras and then justify it by talking about safety and/or children. Sometimes I think that it's just Illinois, but it's like this everywhere. I love America!

dopplerd

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:51:36 -0600

Slaphappy: This is a certainly false equivalency. Yes people drive at a speed they THINK is safe but there is a huge gap between what people think and reality. I rarely drive to work, but when I do I am amazed at the crap I see on the expressways: Makeup application, texting, reading, eating. The only safe speed for these jackoffs is stopped. Not to start a flame war, but I think speed cameras can be used to effectively increase safety, not that that would happen in Chicago. The stupidly low 55 MPH speed limit on the expressways can and should be raised, to say 65. And the threshold for receiving a ticket should be at a significant speed, say 75 MPH. Also the place where a mobile speed camera would have the most safety increase is not on the expressways but on city and side streets where there are pedestrians and cross traffic. All of the four lane roads in Chicago are drag strips and people bomb down our narrow, one way side street at very unsafe speeds. But this would never happen as there just isn't the traffic volume on side streets to make enough money for the city.

JessNevins

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:46:45 -0600

A better headline: "State Finds Stones Have Blood, Squeezes"

SednaBoo

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:24:11 -0600

You know, people may give red light cameras a pass, but i think speeding cameras will be subject to a lot more vandalism. I mean, look at what people do to parking meters.

Slaphappy

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:14:46 -0600

That's exactly right. For d-bags like Terry Link to pretend otherwise is insulting. I've always felt like the rate at which people travel, at least on highways, is the market regulating itself, to borrow a capitalist term. For the most part, drivers are going to drive at the maximum speed they feel safe driving. I'm not advocating the elimination of highway speed limits, but come on -- 55 MPH? Seriously? It should be 70.

DaleyGrind

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:14:10 -0600

So, this is what, reason #3,142 now to leave Chicago, Illinois? This is a joke for so many reasons, not the least being what Jimbo said, that this has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with taking even more of our money. Of course, programs like this are corporately-run, with the corporation usually taking half or so right off of the top. Besides, don't these fools (Terry Link and bill co-sponsor Joseph Lyons) read the news? These scameras are already being outlawed and removed in many of the places they'd been put into use. Seriously people, where does it end?

garlic

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:02:34 -0600

And who pays the ticket when a government employee is caught speeding? Like jimbo said, this is about revenue, not safety.

Turbodave

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:14:07 -0600

One more reason to ride your bike to work.

LDL707

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:03:00 -0600

Even better--maybe the state could just pay somebody to ride in our cars with us. Not only will it cut down on illegal driving habits, but it'll create jobs, too. An invasion of privacy? Nah, after all, it's hard to feel bad for them, 'cause they're breaking the law. What a friggin' joke.

jwm241

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:52:03 -0600

When can we expect the jaywalking cameras?

BlueFairlane

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:58:01 -0600

People like paying speeding tickets even less than they like paying taxes ... hence the slowdowns evidenced in Scottsdale and Maryland. I personally don't want the cameras mainly because I know they'll probably put them on the Ryan--assuming the near-constant flash doesn't become a safety hazard--and I'll get caught, so I probably will wind up slowing down.

jimbo

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:45:31 -0600

Not that it needs to be pointed out, other than for the fact that Chicagoist in its wisdom hints at the opposite, but this has nothing to do with safety. If it did, we'd be revoking licenses and putting tickets on drivers' records. This is happening because 1) current budget shortfalls, 2) people don't like paying taxes, 3) politicians rely on a lot of votes from people that rely on governmental services