The Real Effects of Chicago’s Red-Light and Speeding Cameras
By Michael Bednarski, Kyle Lukas and Emely Lobo
Chicago, like many other major cities in America, is notorious for its famous streets and the drivers that inhabit them.
In order to make the streets a safer space for the community, the city adopted the use of red-light traffic cameras in 2003 and has continued to use them in order to enforce infractions of the law that might not otherwise be noticed by scattered police patrols.
According to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the initiative has proved to reduce serious and fatal auto accidents by 15%, showing that there is positive change occurring within the city as a result.
While well-intentioned, these cameras have also shown the ability to discriminate and ticket black and brown drivers at a higher rate than other individuals, data shows. Factors such as the placement of these red-light cameras and the population density of lower-income neighborhoods both contribute to this disparity.
Dr. Nebiyou Tilahun, a professor at University Illinois Chicago whose research focuses on travel behavior, transport accessibility, and transportation equity, said “there are appropriate cases of use” in regard to red light and speeding cameras.
In March, it was reported by an Illinois Policy Institute investigation that Chicago had collected $89 million in speed camera tickets in 2021 alone. While these numbers may demonstrate that the collection of money is working. Many of the people who have received these fines are left wondering if their steep fine is actually contributing to making the streets safer?
The calibration and overall accuracy of the technology also has recently come into question by motorists when analyzing these devices, as vehicles that are aiming to avoid collisions and dangerous situations on the road can actually be those that are accused of violations.
DePaul University student Patrick Ugolini said he has been issued tickets on more than one occasion due to a fast-changing light that goes from yellow to red in almost an instant. In not wanting to slam on the brakes and risk potentially damaging his own car, others behind him.
The question then must be asked of if these fines are meant for another purpose? The COVID-19 pandemic and a slew of other factors have left Chicago once again needing to balance the city’s budget. Recently Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that the city also plans on increasing the spending budget by 8.4 % for 2022.
Another increase came to the pocket book of drivers in Chicago in 2021, as drivers would now be ticketed for going any more than 6 mph over the speed limit.
When questioned during a 2021 press conference on why the city had decided to do this, Lightfoot said that the increase in this threshold is “about encouraging safer driving during the pandemic because there were fewer drivers on the streets, arguing the ones who were on the roads were speeding more.”
According to a Northwestern University Transportation Center study in 2017, Chicago’s red-light cameras enforcement program delivers significant safety benefits.
With a successful ticketing program in place, questions regarding the possible expansion of both red light and speeding camera programs for the city have risen.
Tilahun said he believes it depends on the situation.
Tilahun said that in cases where the cameras are not working “you should also be just as quick to remove them … if you’re charging people, but you’re not getting any safety benefits, definitely, we should remove them.”
He added that even though there were fewer cars on the road in 2021. The number of fatalities from car crashes had gone up significantly. In response to this he believes that speed cameras are one of the many tools that can be used to help save lives.
It is no surprise that there have been many accident reports since Chicago has the third-largest metropolitan area in the United States. As a result, over the years the city has enforced and implemented many red-light cameras in the majority of the city’s intersections.
Most people would agree that the red-light cameras around our streets of Chicago help with the reduction of the most dangerous types of crashes at the most dangerous places on our streets — namely, intersections. With that being said, others disagree and possess negative stances on the topic in general which has sparked an interesting discourse surrounding the topic.
For example, students such as Henry Hodge, a senior at the University of Illinois Chicago says that red-light cameras just add more “stress” to their lives.
“I commute about an hour and a half to school and have gotten tickets for accidents that were caused by another driver, I had to pay so far about $200 dollars total worth of tickets,” he said.
Another UIC student, David Montoya said that red-light cameras have “made a dent in my wallet.”
“I drive to school through the same route and I have been wrongly written a ticket a few times now, each time has been for different reasons but I still have to pay the fines,” he said. “I work part-time and go to school, it just adds more to my plate.”
So how easy can you get a ticket from red light cameras? The city of Chicago further explains that while a vehicle “rolling” though the turn can endanger pedestrians and bicyclists who may be legally crossing the street with the green light and/or the “Walk” signal.
Red light cameras typically are there for when a driver passes an active red light, sensors are oftentimes implemented in roads for this to happen. Other cities though have different red light cameras that have their own sensors already installed.
Incidents like these cause the driver’s license to be taken away or take further action in the consequence caused in street accidents. In Illinois, Traffic ticket convictions can result in the suspension or revocation of your Illinois driver’s license by the Secretary of State.
According to Attorney John McCurley, in Illinois the “fine for a stop sign or red light violation in Illinois is $120 (Red light camera tickets are $100).”
He added that depending on the situations, sometimes either a red light or a stop sign violation can cause a much greater impact like reckless driving conviction. Anything involving the death of another person, reckless homicide charges are possible.
