After only minutes on 79th Street in Chicago, you'll see flash after flash from speed cameras, but do they actually help improve safety?
That question is now the centerpiece of a contentious debate, as city officials insist the devices help to deter speeding, while opponents say that safety data paints a different picture.
“It’s definitely not clear that cameras are reducing cameras and injuries,” said Amy Korte, the Exec. Vice President of the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. “If they are contributing to them then certainly that needs to be looked at.”
IPI officials say that their study reveals that many school zones have not become any safer as a result of the speed cameras.
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“We found that 43% of the school cameras showed an increase in collisions in their vicinity and 51% of the park cameras showed a higher number of crashes in their vicinity,” Korte said.
As part of their work, IPI cited a study performed by researchers at the University of Illinois-Chicago. That study, conducted before the city lowered the speeding threshold, found that speed cameras overall reduced by 12% the number of crash injuries within 350 feet of the 101 cameras studied.
Crashes increased significantly at 16 camera sites, but just six of those cameras have been moved or taken down, according to FOIA information obtained by IPI.
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The IPI says the city issued more than two and a half million tickets in 2022, bringing in more than $84.5 million, the bulk of which came from $35 tickets.
That class of tickets was created in 2021 when the city raised the threshold for ticketing to target drivers going 6-10 miles over the posted speed limit.
Five Chicago speed cameras, the study says, bring in more than $2 million in fines every year.
“Whether this is a cash grab and a revenue generating program is a question a lot of Chicagoans are asking right now,” Korte said.
Under the last two mayors, the City of Chicago has maintained that the speed camera program is designed for safety.
Late Tuesday, the Chicago Department of Transportation pushed back against the Illinois Policy Institute’s claims that crashes and injuries near parks and schools dramatically increased last year.
“Crash data show the opposite, with a decrease in injury crashes and total crashes near parks and schools where speed cameras are located,” spokesperson Erica Schroeder said.
In a statement CDOT said:
“Chicago is taking a multi-dimensional approach to reducing traffic fatalities and serious crashes, including implementing infrastructure safety improvements and enforcing rules of the road. Chicago’s automated traffic safety camera program is an important tool to deter speeding and ensure our streets are as safe as possible for everyone.”
Either way, the question of speed cams is likely to get more scrutiny. Both candidates for mayor say that if elected, they plan to take a second look at the program.
