Friday, April 13, 2018

Speed-camera violations down 11.8% — and the city [Chicago] credits drivers for that.


(Click on the image for Tanveer Ali's report in the Chicago Sun Times)
  • This year through March 29, drivers had been caught speeding by one of Chicago’s 151 speed cameras 208,891 times, a Sun-Times analysis of city data found. That’s down 11.8 percent from the same period in 2017.
  • While a snowy February might have contributed to that drop, City Hall also credits drivers who slow down because of the cameras.
  • “There are several factors at work here, most importantly improved driver behavior,” says Michael Claffey, spokesman for the city Department of Transportation.
  • Claffey notes that the number of violations has been decreasing since the city began using speed cameras in 2014. He calls the cameras program “an effective tool that encourages drivers to slow down and observe the speed limit.”