Jun
18
The white vans
The “SPEED PHOTO ENFORCED” signs have been up for a couple months, and Illinois will begin using photo radar in freeway and tollway work zones in July. One mile per hour over the speed limit and you get a nice $375.00 ticket in the mail.
Starting July 1st, the State of Illinois will start enforcement using the speed cameras in areas designated as “Work Zones” on major freeways and tollways. Anyone caught by these devices will be mailed a $375.00 ticket for the first offense. The second offense will cost $1000.00 and comes with a 90-Day automatic suspension. The picture taken will be of the car and the driver. This is a moving violation, which allow insurance companies to raise insurance rates for 4-7 years.
This is the harshest penalty structure ever set for a governmental unit involving PHOTO speed enforcement. The state already has two camera vans on-line since March issuing tickets 24/7 in work zones with speed limits lowered to 45 MPH. Photos of both the Driver’s face and License plate are taken.
Under a measure signed into law last week, the tickets will only be issued in a work zone with at least one worker present. Although the state has suggested the speed camera program is intended to cut work zone deaths, evidence shows that only 15 percent of freeway construction zone injuries are caused by automobiles. A far greater number of workers are injured by construction equipment.
The vans and speed camera machines belong to Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). ACS officials are on trial in Canada for bribing police officers to secure a lucrative speed camera contract in the city of Edmonton.
Illinois will pay the company $2950 per month per van as well as a $15 bonus for every ticket the company is able to generate.
I think this is a clear abuse of right to privacy laws. Big brother is going to snap my picture, I wonder how accurate these machines are? The police should write their own tickets. This is a clear example of the state looking for an alternative revenue stream and IL politics at its best. Sad.
This system may not save lives. As much as law enforcement claims that it will. People are going to speed regardless of any posted limit. It is just human nature. I am sure the state commissioned a study or two just to back up their claims that this system will improve public safety. The problem with studies is you can get a research company to have a report tell you what ever the person paying for it wants it to say. This is just another abuse of government power.
It is also human nature for people to get angry and hit other people, but we still have laws against it, and arrest people for battery or assault.
Lets review the reasons for work zone speed limits: Traffic flows more smoothly and safely if it is moving at the same speed. Human reaction time is limited. Construction zones have multiple, unexpected hazards. 15 percent of highway construction injuries is 15 percent too high. 45 miles an hour is plenty fast to get where you’re going, if you plan for it.
And the arguments for speeding in a construction zone….?
It seems like most of the tollway is awork zone right now. Sometimes they have signs up – begin work zone, sometimes just cones or barrels, sometimes the workers are behind temporary barriers – is that a 45 zone too?. I do not want to speed or hit any workers but I am not always sure where the work zone begins and ends . ……..
Bob,
Just to clarify. Nowhere in my statement did I say it was ok to speed anywhere. Thank you.
Leasing out law enforcement to a private for-profit company: exactly how does that fit our model of government with the consent of the governed?
With the best of intentions you are (unknowingly I’m pretty sure) repeating one cause and effect argument camera companies sell. In this case, construction zone accidents and deaths are bad, speeding is bad, therefore traffic cameras that ticket speeders are good.
If they truly want to save lives, reduce work zone speed limits to a level where it actually matters. Over 25 mph a person getting hit has a 90% probability of being killed; at 25mph or less that same person has a 90% probability of survival. In for a penny, you should be outraged the speed limit it still at a lethal level.
In the meantime, ACS Enterprise Solutions, ACS PAC, ACS Political Action Comm, ACS State & Local Solutions, Affiliated Computer Services Inc. , RedSpeed, as well as their lobbying groups (ex-con Al Ronan is a big one) all grease the campaign funds of our pols with contributions that are not bribes or kickbacks, simply votes bought and paid for, all legal in Illinois (but not in many other states).
Here’s a brief time line from The Newspaper of criminal indictments, trials, and accusations surrounding some of the companies and individuals responsible for photo enforcement.
Traffic cameras are not related to safety except by coincidence.
My whole point is that people are going to speed. If there isn’t a tolerance or 5 to 7 MPH built into these machines you are going to have hundreds of thousands of pissed off motorists. Anyone who sits there and tells me that they never speed is not telling the whole truth. If you go just one MPH over the limit for just a fraction of a second you technically are speeding. Unless you drive with cruise control it is not natural for someone’s foot to keep a 45 MPH speed with out any tolerance. This is going to crowd the courts with frivolous tickets, when the court should be concentrating on more serious offences such as DUI and wreck less homicide. Again, nowhere in my statement am I saying it is Okay to speed. Thank you.
My point is that most people driving in active work zones, with workers and vehicles, are not driving within 5-7 mph of the limit, at least where I drive on I-88 and I-294. I know because I drive the limit in the right lane, and rarely see any cars that are keeping pace with me. And, yes, I know that at times I am “technically” speeding, as I probably exceed the limit by a few mph. But I also assume–regardless of Mark’s comment that “One mile per hour over the speed limit and you get a nice $375.00 ticket in the mail”–that tolerances are built in. Heck, they could use 10-15 mph as the tolerance and still catch speeders in the work zone. (Even with the signs required by law that state that photo-enforcement is being used!)
I personally want the police to attend to matters of more importance, so I don’t mind sub-contracting out the “eyes” for simple enforcement like whether someone is exceeding a posted speed limit. I would prefer that the need not exist, but given the rampant speeding in the work zones (don’t get me started on the reckless driving which this won’t stop), the drivers have brought this upon themselves. Still, the number of times that the cameras will be operating is small–I’ve only seen the cameras on I-88 once or twice in the last two years. So I don’t expect that this will make much of a real difference.
And Chad, I didn’t say that you claimed it was okay to speed, although you do say–twice–that people are going to speed because of “human nature”. So your argument is that people are unable to control their nature to prevent themselves from breaking the law.
My point is that MOST laws are kept by MOST people, but traffic laws seem to be the exception–it seems that MOST people disregard MOST traffic laws. Watch at intersections: right turn into right lane? Nope. Full stop behind the white line before right turn on red? Nope. Approach intersections cautiously and prepare to stop if the light turns yellow? Nope. Drive the posted speed limit? Nope. (Notice that the limit on Highland near Good Samaritan was just lowered from 45 to 40…probably in hopes that most people will keep it under 50.) Other common sense rules (not laws) are disregarded as well: 2-second gap when driving in free-flowing (not rush hour) traffic on the tollway? Nope. Leave a gap when merging to allow inter-leaving vehicles? Nope. Don’t use the right lane to pass? Nope. I could go on, but we all see it everyday.
My biggest concern is that this is how the teens learn…and 6-8000 of them die every year from what they learn…
Bob,
For the most part we are in agreement. I would just like to make sure there are tolerances built in to give drivers some leeway.
In my college life, many years ago, I worked road construction–manned jack hammers, drove dump trucks, etc– and must admit that because of speeding motorists within an arms reach of me, I had doubts if I would survive to practice my tuition-paid profession. As we all know, I did survive.
We all are in full support of tight speed controls in construction zones.
That said, 1 mile per hour over the limit is extreme. Read any Car and Driver mag, or other auto mag and you will see auto speedos vary. Which, I think is what Chad is alluding to.
With a 1 mph tolerance (if this thread’s premise is correct) this is not a question of willfully breaking the law. It appears more aimed at revenue production.
How could I successfully contest a $375 ticket if my speedometer says Im right, but the camera says Im not? I am a bit concerned.
Not to mention it is almost impossible to keep your foot resting on the accelerator at exactly 45 MPH the whole time. Your speed will fluctuate a bit.
So we need the word from Mr. Thoman. Does his statement that “One mile per hour over the speed limit and you get a nice $375.00 ticket in the mail” have documentation in a release from the state police, or was this commentary on his part? His blog entry does seem a little biased against the speed cameras.
Personally, I’ve never seen enforcement at 1mph over the limit; I think that the police understand the limitations of the equipment as much as we on this thread do. I doubt that anything under the notorious “5 over” that everyone seems to drive would be safe from a ticket.
I don’t like passing on the right, and it’s certainly not a good idea with a semi, but sometimes it is necessary because of a slow car in the passing lane. I feel no remorse.
On 88 by Oakbrook I think the limit is 45 but I’m not sure. It’s not clearly posted and when traffic isn’t at a standstill everyone is going at least 65.