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Speed cameras in Chicago

MaggieD

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As Mayor Rahm Emanuel rolls out his long-delayed speed camera plan, new numbers his office released suggest that drivers who speed in Chicago could rack up way more in fines than a cash-starved City Hall initially projected.The mayor had hoped to bring in $30 million this year. But results from a monthlong test of the automated camera system indicate the city could reap well into the hundreds of millions of dollars in the program's first year.
City transportation officials argue that estimate is overblown, but the test period statistics the mayor's office released Friday reinvigorated critics who argue that the program is more of a cash grab than the child safety measure Emanuel sold it as.
Emanuel speed cameras could rack up way more in fines - chicagotribune.com

Will these cameras change driving habits?
 
No, but they will supply more cash for the gov't to waste. ;)

That's the sad fact. Will the money be used to save taxpayers money? :rofl -- Not a chance. They will use it to grow government. It's the natural human condition, sadly.
 
That's the sad fact. Will the money be used to save taxpayers money? :rofl -- Not a chance. They will use it to grow government. It's the natural human condition, sadly.

Mornin' Maggie.
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Not to mention.....they will be able to access those cameras anytime a crime is committed near them. Or when they want to view them. City property and all.

In Chicago Heights they even put up a Camera on a Street pole. Right off Route 30 headed east towards Ford Heights, and could watch 4 different areas where drugs were being sold. Which is why it was put out there. It did its job. As most don't go there and do that type of business there anymore.
 
I think most cities subcontract this out to companies that get a cut of the action. If my city does this, I am effed because we have cameras on pretty much every non-residential intersection in the city. It was a freebie from the War on Terror spending so the city took it. They can use it for traffic monitoring and I heard somewhere it was something the Secret Service accessed when The President and Vice-President have been in town briefly on different occasions.
 


Absolutely. impairs judgement, makes people worry less about safety and more about not getting a ticket.

Speaking of tickets, a while back on a similar issue I discussed a redlight ticket I got where all the evidence was that I made nothing but a legal left hand turn. The findings came back yesterday from my contesting that ticket. The verdict -- not responsible.

It's my advise to ALWAYS contest ANY ticket you receive. At worst, you get a little more time to not have to pay...
 
Mornin' Maggie.
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Not to mention.....they will be able to access those cameras anytime a crime is committed near them. Or when they want to view them. City property and all.

In Chicago Heights they even put up a Camera on a Street pole. Right off Route 30 headed east towards Ford Heights, and could watch 4 different areas where drugs were being sold. Which is why it was put out there. It did its job. As most don't go there and do that type of business there anymore.

Chicago Heights, eh? Part of my old stomping grounds...Should put a camera right outside Jimmy's... That would make for some interesting dinner conversations...
 
Chicago Heights, eh? Part of my old stomping grounds...Should put a camera right outside Jimmy's... That would make for some interesting dinner conversations...

Heya Chez.
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My Brother use to DJ for Jimmy's.....same deal with the Stomping grounds. Damn near anything out South, South West. I use to live in So. Chicago Heights. Right off InterOcean and Chicago Rd. That would be the Border of Cook County and Will County. 26th and Chicago Rd. 2 More lights Down and ya hit Sauk Trail. Next major Intersection.
 
You and I have already hashed this out not too long ago, so there's no reason to do so again. We'll just link to that other thread if we need to. ;)

Anyway, I do think it has some effect on habits, but a small effect. I am firmly convinced the base motivation is the money.


Mornin' Maggie.
hat.gif
Not to mention.....they will be able to access those cameras anytime a crime is committed near them. Or when they want to view them. City property and all.

In Chicago Heights they even put up a Camera on a Street pole. Right off Route 30 headed east towards Ford Heights, and could watch 4 different areas where drugs were being sold. Which is why it was put out there. It did its job. As most don't go there and do that type of business there anymore.
They don't go THERE to do that type of business. Anybody who thinks it had an effect on that type of business in terms of numbers and/or volume of sales overall would be naive.


Maggie: this was placed in to my home town for several months and eventually voted away in a November election. One of the things the community didn't like was that you had to pay the fine first then challenge it in court. Hell. I never had to do that when a cop handed me a speeding violation. What makes a simple machine that perfect? :shrug:
I found it amusing that the last time I got a speeding ticket from a human cop he spent 3 minutes going over every possible option regarding how to pay the fine, but never made one mention that I had the right to fight it in court. I wanted to laugh at his attempted deception-by-omission, but managed to keep a straight face.
 
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They don't go THERE to do that type of business. Anybody who thinks it had an effect on that type of business in terms of numbers and/or volume of sales overall would be naive.

If it cleans up a particular neighborhood? It's a success. If we could contain all these jamokes in Drug Town, the world would be a better place.

Edit: In fact?? That would be an excellent use for these cameras. Woot!
 
If it cleans up a particular neighborhood? It's a success. If we could contain all these jamokes in Drug Town, the world would be a better place.

Edit: In fact?? That would be an excellent use for these cameras. Woot!

Legalization would accomplish the same thing. People could go to a legit store to purchase, and we wouldn't have to spend money and resources on cameras and surveillance, and we might even make some money in tax revenue.

Sounds like a win-win. ;)
 
Legalization would accomplish the same thing. People could go to a legit store to purchase, and we wouldn't have to spend money and resources on cameras and surveillance, and we might even make some money in tax revenue.

Sounds like a win-win. ;)

It's not a win-win because it's never going to happen.
 
They don't go THERE to do that type of business. Anybody who thinks it had an effect on that type of business in terms of numbers and/or volume of sales overall would be naive.
Heya Radcen :2wave: .....yeah all they did was move out of the range of the cameras. So Right there by Wentworth. They just took it back into the neighborhood. But it was busting people and it did effectively stop a lot of the car trafficking thru there. Not as much off of Route 30 any much more. Course now the Cops catch people back in those neighborhoods. Kinda hard to explain why they are there. Especially all those coming over from Indiana.

Plenty tried to fight it out in court too. Cops would show up with warrants at their door for those pitching the 5 and dime. Take em' Right in.
 
Heya Radcen :2wave: .....yeah all they did was move out of the range of the cameras. So Right there by Wentworth. They just took it back into the neighborhood. But it was busting people and it did effectively stop a lot of the car trafficking thru there. Not as much off of Route 30 any much more. Course now the Cops catch people back in those neighborhoods. Kinda hard to explain why they are there. Especially all those coming over from Indiana.

Plenty tried to fight it out in court too. Cops would show up with warrants at their door for those pitching the 5 and dime. Take em' Right in.
I don't discount it helping some neighborhoods, at least temporarily, but it also seems to me to be a solution that addresses only half the problem. It does zilch to address the demand side of the equation, hence they're merely chasing people all over town.
 
I wonder how long it will take for some enterprising person to discover how to spoof these cameras?
 
I don't discount it helping some neighborhoods, at least temporarily, but it also seems to me to be a solution that addresses only half the problem. It does zilch to address the demand side of the equation, hence they're merely chasing people all over town.

Yeah, truthfully most of those guys are nickel and diming bags of weed. That's the Majority of them. Course a lot of Kids get caught and then its on their record. That's not to say there isn't anything else being sold down there. But those getting locked up and charged most of the time are the guys with the weed.

They did the same with the traffic Camera and people were fighting it saying it wasn't even them driving the car. Which as usual the Courts found a way round that excuse now. Same deal with people blowing thru the toll booths. Now they put in the cameras. Which will get the plates and who is driving the vehicle.
 
You and I have already hashed this out not too long ago, so there's no reason to do so again. We'll just link to that other thread if we need to. ;)

Anyway, I do think it has some effect on habits, but a small effect. I am firmly convinced the base motivation is the money.



They don't go THERE to do that type of business. Anybody who thinks it had an effect on that type of business in terms of numbers and/or volume of sales overall would be naive.



I found it amusing that the last time I got a speeding ticket from a human cop he spent 3 minutes going over every possible option regarding how to pay the fine, but never made one mention that I had the right to fight it in court. I wanted to laugh at his attempted deception-by-omission, but managed to keep a straight face.

Did you ask him why he left that out?

It wouldn't be smart to let him know you wanted to fight it, but his answer would be interesting.
 
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Did you ask him why he left that out?

It wouldn't be smart to let him know you wanted to fight it, but his answer would be interesting.

No, I did not. I was 10 miles from home after a 5 hr drive. I stammered my first answer and from that point on I sensed he suspected I was drunk. I had had nothing to drink whatsoever. I was merely exhausted. Plus, he was kind of surely and testy... as was I, though I tried to hide it... and I didn't want to chance a dumb ass sobriety test, or something.

I agree it wouldn't be smart. Even if all he did would be to get testy, it would still clue him to make sure and take good notes, which wouldn't work in my favor. But, I will admit that I was indeed curious as well.

I decided later to simply pay the fine, and never did take it to court. For various reasons.
 
Heya Chez.
yo2.gif
My Brother use to DJ for Jimmy's.....same deal with the Stomping grounds. Damn near anything out South, South West. I use to live in So. Chicago Heights. Right off InterOcean and Chicago Rd. That would be the Border of Cook County and Will County. 26th and Chicago Rd. 2 More lights Down and ya hit Sauk Trail. Next major Intersection.

Use to shoot pool at Spano's back in the day, El Capitan's or "the Hill" for some underage liquor purchases, flash forward to 21 and over the Trap, yes,yes, Jimmy's... Allot of time at Tattler's over in PF Bixby's for "happy hour" and I still make it down that way for my ponies over at Balmoral... I suppose you know of the culinary delight had at Perros Bros on Lincoln Hwy..no? I didn't like the one in the Heights as much. Use to shoot at Vincares (sp?) when it was open every week for a while... Yep, thems were the days...
 
No, I did not. I was 10 miles from home after a 5 hr drive. I stammered my first answer and from that point on I sensed he suspected I was drunk. I had had nothing to drink whatsoever. I was merely exhausted. Plus, he was kind of surely and testy... as was I, though I tried to hide it... and I didn't want to chance a dumb ass sobriety test, or something.

I agree it wouldn't be smart. Even if all he did would be to get testy, it would still clue him to make sure and take good notes, which wouldn't work in my favor. But, I will admit that I was indeed curious as well.

I decided later to simply pay the fine, and never did take it to court. For various reasons.

That is exactly why I have never made conversation with an officer that stopped me.

I hand him my license and whatever else he wants and take the ticket.

Usually they can't remember the stop so the case gets thrown out.

Now I live in Mexico where 50 pesos does the same thing.
 
Use to shoot pool at Spano's back in the day, El Capitan's or "the Hill" for some underage liquor purchases, flash forward to 21 and over the Trap, yes,yes, Jimmy's... Allot of time at Tattler's over in PF Bixby's for "happy hour" and I still make it down that way for my ponies over at Balmoral... I suppose you know of the culinary delight had at Perros Bros on Lincoln Hwy..no? I didn't like the one in the Heights as much. Use to shoot at Vincares (sp?) when it was open every week for a while... Yep, thems were the days...

Indeed hometown.....oh and knew a couple that worked at Perros off of 30. I learned all about the far South once my mother decided to put me in Glenwood School for Boys. Which back then it was a Military school. Like around 4th grade. Now it is a Boys and Girls School. Plus there is a North Side Campus. Course they phased out the military and now they run around in Blazers when they are in school. Got me out of running the streets all the time. That's for sure. Well except on weekends and Summers. You know how it is. ;)

Hung out at most of the known spots. Ciprianis, Lorenzetti's, Harry's Old Town in Downtown Crete. Same with his New Town in Steger. Legends Bar too. Course most all Hot spots out South. As there wasn't many. Hell Joe Orr woods.....we watched Joe Satriani out there playing his guitar when it use to be the party woods.

Didn't get into shooting pool much except when I was younger. Course I wasn't a Dart guy nor a Bowler, either.
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