(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Speed cameras cost Chicagoans $89 million after 2.8 million tickets were issued last year - that’s more tickets than there are residents.
A new study from the Illinois Policy Institute found that Chicago raised more than double the 2020 revenue from speeding tickets after Mayor Lightfoot lowered the speeding threshold from 10 mph to 6 mph for a $35 ticket.
Driving 10mph over the speed limit still costs Chicagoans $100.
Lightfoot had hoped the new policy would decrease traffic crashes and fatalities.
But the investigation suggests there wasn’t a significant drop in total accidents and that fatalities actually increased by 13%.
In a statement, Illinois Policy Institute Vice President Adam Schuster said the cameras are also taking the most money from those who can least afford it.
More than one-third of the most lucrative cameras – 23% of total city revenue – came from the largely impoverished South Side of Chicago, issuing $20 million in tickets.
You can read the full report here.
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