Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about speed cameras

More than 112,500 people were killed in speeding-related crashes from 2005 to 2014 . Image: NTSB

NTSB: Speed Kills, and We’re Not Doing Enough to Stop It

By Stephen Miller | Jul 27, 2017 | No Comments

More than 112,500 people lost their lives in speed-related crashes from 2005 to 2014, accounting for 31 percent of all traffic deaths in America over that period. In a draft report released earlier this week, the National Transportation Safety Board says excessive speed is a deadly problem in our nation's transportation system -- one that federal and state officials aren't doing enough to address.

Here’s Looking at You, Kidwell: The Tribune’s Anti-Traffic Cam Reporter Has Left the Paper

By John Greenfield, Payton Chung and Steven Vance | Apr 3, 2017 | 16 Comments

Investigative reporter David Kidwell broke the Redflex bribery scandal and pressured the city to make reforms to the red light camera program, but much of his reporting on automated enforcement was misleading and betrayed an apparent personal bias against traffic cams.

Chicago Joins Vision Zero Network While Pedestrian Fatality Rate is in Flux

By Steven Vance | Feb 4, 2016 | 8 Comments

At yesterday’s quarterly meeting of the Mayor’s Pedestrian Advisory Council, Chicago Department of Transportation commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld mentioned the “somber” statistics that there was a significant increase in Chicago pedestrian fatalities in 2015 compared to previous years. There were 35 pedestrian deaths in the city in 2014, according to official Illinois Department of Transportation figures, and […]

Silly Tribune, Speed Cameras Aren’t Just for Kids — They Make Everyone Safer

By John Greenfield | Nov 25, 2015 | 61 Comments

[Today the Chicago Reader launched a new weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership will allow Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We’ll be syndicating a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website […]

Trib Launches War on Speed Cams, CDOT Releases Data Showing They Work

By John Greenfield | Nov 19, 2015 | 29 Comments

The Chicago Tribune’s David Kidwell and his colleagues have written extensively about the city’s red light camera program. Some of that reporting has been constructive, including revelations about the red light cam bribery scandal, unexplained spikes in ticketing, and cameras that were installed in low-crash locations during the Richard M. Daley administration. Other aspects of the […]

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Crashes Doubled After Houston Banned Red Light Cameras

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 12, 2015 | No Comments

Law enforcement officers warned there would likely be an uptick in collisions when Houston debated banning red light cameras in the early part of the decade. Turns out they were absolutely right. Houston voters banned the life-saving technology in 2010, with the press mostly cheering them along. Last year Houston PD examined how that’s impacted safety at intersections. According […]

More Steps Emanuel Should Take to Reform Chicago’s Traffic Cam Program

By John Greenfield | Apr 15, 2015 | 47 Comments

Even if you voted for Chuy García, if you know how effective automated enforcement has been for preventing serious crashes in other cities, you may be relieved he didn’t get a chance to shut down all of Chicago’s traffic cameras. However, García and the other challengers did residents a service by drawing attention to ways that the Emanuel […]

The Real Reason There Are Speed Cams by Challenger Park

By John Greenfield | Nov 7, 2014 | 32 Comments

Uptown’s Challenger Playlot Park is the poster child for the anti-traffic camera crowd. Along with Mulberry Playlot Park, in the McKinley Park neighborhood, Challenger is frequently cited as a small, little-used park that’s not even visible from the locations of speed cameras that are supposedly there to protect park users. This is proof, according to […]

More Noise About the Mulberry Speed Camera From the Anti-Cam Crowd

By John Greenfield | Oct 7, 2014 | 32 Comments

The backlash against the Mulberry Playlot Park speed camera keeps getting more surreal. Now, 12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas is calling for demolishing the park to get rid of the cam. On September 4, the Chicago Department of Transportation installed the speed cam at Archer Avenue and Paulina Street, about 500 feet northwest of the park. […]

Letting Drivers Dictate Speed Cam Placement — What Could Go Wrong?

By John Greenfield | Sep 24, 2014 | 31 Comments

12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas wants to use a dubious method to decide where Chicago’s speed cameras should go: crowdsourcing. On September 4, the Chicago Department of Transportation installed a speed cam in the ward at Archer Avenue and Paulina Street, near Mulberry Playlot Park, which features a playground and a water play area. Since […]

Archer Avenue Motorists Upset They Can’t Drive as Fast as They Want

By Steven Vance | Sep 12, 2014 | 99 Comments

Some motorists are complaining about a new speed camera along the busy 3200 block of Archer Avenue in McKinley Park. The accusations of a “speed trap” focus on the camera’s location, which is not immediately adjacent to the small park that, under Chicago’s “safety zones” rules, justifies the camera’s placement. But the camera is located […]

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