The Chainlink

Upset and concerned about the current rhetoric and plans on red light/speed cameras

Had some free time at work, found a list of Alderpeople that support it and emailed all them.

Found the list here: http://www.citizenstoabolishredlightcameras.com/candidates-pledge.html 
Emailed that group too, why not - chicagocoalitionforchange@gmail.com

Chicago City Council Members who have signed a pledge to rid of the cameras. 

Bob Fioretti 2nd
Pat Dowell 3rd
Leslie Hairston 5th
Roderick Sawyer 6th
Anthony Beale 9th
Toni Fowlkes 16th

Emails: 

service@6thwardchicago.com

2ndwarddemorg@gmail.com

ward03@cityofchicago.org

LHairston@cityofchicago.org

ward09@cityofchicago.org

Toni.Foulkes@cityofchicago.org

My email to all them:

Subject: Support for Keeping and Improving Red Light/Speed Cameras

As a person who walks and bikes in Chicago, I want to express my concern your support to have red-light and speed cameras gone. 

I feel incredibly safer on our city streets and sidewalks (and studies back up that I should) with these cameras around. This is one of the few things the city government has done recently that I love, please don't take this away from us. 

Not only for the "people should follow the law" reasoning (if you break the law there should be consequences) but also I know that if I am hit my a driver while on my bike or when walking across the street (both things that have happened to me), one of these cameras is likely to capture the collision. 

There are better measures to improve the system and reduce monetary fines than just get rid of them.

Please, please, stop your support getting rid of these. It makes our city better and safer.

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I vote for Self-Sealing Stembolt!

Well, speed cameras - this is how it is done in much of the world. Saves patrol officers for more important uses than traffic enforcement.

I agree with the corrupt points too but I don't think that removing the cameras (speed and redlight) is the best option since there are studies supporting they help safety. I don't feel like finding the studies links but they exist in news articles and blog posts, but then again, anyone can pretty much find any study to back up their own beliefs. 

Plus, the city had to have just put a lot of time and resources into installation, seems more wasteful to now remove them so soon after. 

I mentioned in my email to the alderpeople a better solution is to improve the system (big thing) or reduce monetary fines (easy thing). Less money then less corruption? I think warning notices for the first several offences before starting with any fees seems reasonable and appropriate. 

Love the idea of lowering speeds on all streets too and doesn't having both types of cameras help enforce it? I imagine most of the people on the Chainlink know the difference in injury between a collision at 20mph v. 40mph. 

Logically, having red light cameras reduces speeding because people who would normally speed up to make it through yellow lights, given the monetary consequences of missing the yellow, would be more cautious and slow, stop at the yellow, rather than speed through?

Posting lower speed limit signs won't do anything to slow motorists.  Speed cameras may or may not. I know that my behavior as a motorist has changed in the few locations that I'm aware of a speeding camera.

However, in my opinion, the greatest impact on speeding is with actual road design.  Including more speed bumps, decreasing lane widths, changing the distance between lane markers and decreasing distances between stop signs or red lights have been proven to make this happen.

Unfortunately there is not enough political will to reduce speeds on every single road.  I'm not sure if we want every road in Chicago to have these features, but by physically making it more difficult to go fast to do 2 things: 1)Make it less attractive to drive everywhere, 2)increase the safety of other users such as cyclists and pedestrians. 

"in my opinion, the greatest impact on speeding is with actual road design.  Including more speed bumps, decreasing lane widths, changing the distance between lane markers and decreasing distances between stop signs or red lights have been proven to make this happen."

AGREED. 

I'm on the fence on keeping the cameras, I haven't gotten one yet as a driver, but I don't feel they make me safer as a rider.  I think better marked bike lanes and drivers being ticketed for entering them would be more beneficial than speed.  As well as more tickets for distracted driving.

On the flip side I would also like to see more enforcement of cyclists following the rules of the road.  I have had more close calls from other cyclists than people in cars.

The city of Chicago having shortened yellow light times below the federal standards IS indeed very shady and unfair if it was done just for the purpose of increasing revenue. Do you want an administration who has, through its implementation of an unfair system of revenue generation to continue on this pattern of behavior?

How then do we find a means to calm vehicular traffic. In the 'old days', enforcement of traffic laws where meted out by the feared 'white hatted' (they wore white police hats) Chicago Police Traffic Enforcement officers. Their sole duty would be to lurk around various streets and pop out and ticket traffic violators. Now officers are needed to concentrate on violent crime.

A 25 mph speed limit sounds reasonable, but drivers would not tolerate it and speed regardless. On some main clear roads in the city they are already going at near expressway speeds.

Chicago's system has to be eliminated OR redone to ensure that it is implemented in a fair and even-handed manner. That is the issue of what the candidate who is challenging the current Chicago mayor IS !

Reminder to self: Avoid those intersections while on bike. 

I received 2 of these speed camera tickets by Senn Park this past winter. I feel it's nothing but a scam to get money. Some cities (like Houston) have completely stopped the Red Light/Speed Camera programs.

When you don't speed at least five over, you don't get speed-camera tickets. When you don't run red lights, you don't get red light tickets. It's not a scam, and it's really not that hard!

I got a red-light ticket once when I rolled a right on red in my convertible years ago. Yeah, it sucks to pay it, but there was nothing scam about it. I didn't stop on the red. I got a speed-camera ticket in another country a couple of years ago, same thing. I was going too fast.

Stop complaining and just....slow....down!

The fine for speeding should be $1 for the first mph over the limit, plus $10 for the second mph.  I'm not heartless and everyone makes mistakes.

For the third mph another $100 should be added to the previous $11.  For the fourth mph it should be another $1000.  For the fifth mph over anothrr zero is added to make it $10,000, and so on...

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