New Bill Would Use Cameras To Enforce Speed Limits

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Mar 26, 2009 10:00PM

With police cameras, red light cameras, and street sweeper cameras being utilized or suggested, it's no surprise that the next step would be cameras for speeding. New legislation proposed in the General Assembly would use stationary cameras to enforce speed limits in eight counties statewide, including Cook County. One of the bill's sponsors, state Sen. Terry Link (D- Waukegan), told the Trib, "I cannot feel sorry for those people caught by camera, because they are breaking the law. If people start to slow down, they wouldn't have to worry about the fines."

The Trib explains:

Under the proposed Illinois law, speeding tickets issued by automated surveillance would be treated as non-moving offenses, like parking tickets and red-light violations, and convictions or guilty pleas would not go on drivers' records, officials said.

Pictures of the offending license plate would be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle. The driver and passengers would not be photographed.

Speed cameras would be permitted on roads in eight counties that have a history of speed-related accidents, where insufficient police manpower exists to enforce speed limits and where on-site enforcement is "inherently difficult."

The counties are Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, Madison, McHenry, St. Clair and Will.

While we're wary of using even more cameras for law enforcement, there's evidence speeding cameras have had some success. Since speeding cameras were installed last year along U.S. Highway 101 outside of Scottsdale, Arizona, crashes caused by speeding have dropped by 44 percent. Montgomery County in Maryland also reported positive results. [Tribune, WGN Radio]