More speed cameras please, and pronto

Recently, a Chicago Tribune article cited statistics from the Illinois Department of Transportation that 95% of drivers on the state’s tollway system speed—defined as traveling 11 miles over the posted limit. The article further stated that 14% of motorists cruise along at 20 miles or more above the limit.

I personally can attest to the veracity of the report. I am one of those drivers who stay in the right lane, traveling at or slightly above the speed limit, and I am passed routinely by other vehicles—even semi-tractor trailers—that make it seem as if I’m standing still. It can be terrifying at times. And, I can tell you that the situation isn’t all that much better on the surface roads—people in the Chicago area generally drive like a starving man heading to a buffet.

This situation has been going on for quite some time, so I was pleased when the city of Chicago announced earlier this year that it would start installing speed cameras around schools and parks, ostensibly with the intention of keeping kids safer. Not everyone shared my view. Of course, there were the obligatory “Big Brother” fears. But what really seemed to get people riled were newspaper reports concerning the enormous amount of revenue these cameras potentially will generate for the city’s coffers.

Another Tribune story said that nine cameras installed at four parks—the city has 570 parks, by the way—generated 222,843 warning citations during a 45-day grace period. Had these been actual citations, they would have generated $13.3 million in fines, or $106 million for a full year, the Tribune reported. That was more than enough to get the conspiracy theorists going in full throttle.

As it turns out, things aren’t all that much different in the St. Louis suburb of Moline Acres, Mo., according to David Bobo, a detective sergeant for the town’s police department, who was put in charge of the project when Moline Acres decided to purchase its own speed camera from St. Louis-based B&W Sensors.

“Some people are uncomfortable with it, and I don’t know why,” Bobo said. “All we’re doing is trying to get people to change their behaviors.”

Those who are most unhappy with the speed camera—set up to monitor the town’s main thoroughfare, a four-lane stretch of road, in both directions—regularly protest, according to Bobo. When they see the officers take down the camera, which has to be done every two to three days to recharge the battery, they rev their engines and then gun it.

“I guess they speed by just to show us they can do it,” Bobo said. “One of these days, I’m going to put a uniformed officer down the road a bit with a radar gun to catch them.”

 The scofflaws might not think so, but there is no denying that Moline Acres needed a speed camera. When it first was deployed, the camera flagged 77 violations per hour, or about 1,500 violations per month—and that is a lot, given Moline Acres’ population of just 3,000.

This is even more alarming when you consider that that the cameras only are deployed during daylight hours—to use them at night would require the use of a flash, which might startle a speeding driver and then lead to a crash, said Lauren Griffin, communications coordinator for B&W Sensors.

Moreover, the camera indicated that about 16,000 vehicles travel through the town on that stretch of road every day—a statistic that took Bobo by surprise.

“This has been an enlightening experience, to say the least,” he said.