GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSIDERING NEW LAW AIMED AT SPEEDERS
The Illinois General Assembly is considering legislation which would permit county or city governments in Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kendall, Will in the Chicagoland area and Madison and St. Clair counties in metro St. Louis to install camera-radar mechanisms on heavily-trafficked and accident-prone streets. Motorists exceeding the speed limit and caught on camera would get a $100 ticket in the mail. The infraction would not count against the number of moving violations necessary to suspend a driver's license.
Rep. Joseph Lyons, D-Chicago, co-sponsoring the proposal with Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, proposed the bill because "people are driving just too darned fast." Lyons and Link pointed to federal statistics showing that in Illinois in 2007 there were 520 speed-related deaths. They also cited statistics that suggest that cameras have reduced accidents in El Paso, Texas by 80%; annual crashes in Dayton, Ohio by 37%; and that cameras monitoring red-light runners in Chicago since 2003 have reduced that problem by 55%.
Critics of the legislation allege that it's an effort by municipalites to pad their treasuries. Link countered that lives will be saved as a result and also noted that if you're not speeding, you've got nothing to worry about.
I think this is great legislation. Speed is a primary factor in the majority of fatal car accidents. This is one more incentive to encourage drivers to slow down and drive more safely.
