DRIVERS traveling through a major American city have racked up millions of dollars in annual speeding fines, according to new research.
Chicago collected fines from drivers after issuing 9,132,409 speeding tickets via the city’s highway surveillance cameras.
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The city has 169 traffic cameras monitoring the roads, according to local ABC affiliate OTVO.
The cameras generated US$102 million in fines in 2023, according to The Illinois Policy Institute.
A driver was caught speeding every 20 seconds.
“I received one when I was returning from the pharmacist to pick up compounded medicines,” a driver, Ingrid Walker, told the Institute.
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“People in front of me were slowing down to talk to each other on the road. It looked like a dangerous situation, so I tried to speed up to get around them.”
A flash captured Walker’s speeding car — she found a $35 speeding ticket in her mail later.
Walker received a second speeding ticket and was issued a late ticket.
The retired driver reported a steady income of $800 per month. The fines amounted to 10% of his monthly income.
“By the time I was able to contact the city to pay them, the fines had doubled and I discovered I had received a second $35 fine at the intersection,” she said.
Walker is not alone. The city has issued 9,132,409 speeding tickets to drivers since cameras were posted on city streets in 2013.
Drivers racked up another $55,370,998 in fines for late tickets.
Public regulators have argued over the correct ways to implement traffic speed regulations.
The NTSB has consistently warned that high-speed crashes have made American roads less safe.
Americans suffer more than 40,000 traffic deaths each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Speed contributed to 12,330 deaths in 2021, the agency found.
By the time I was able to contact the city to pay them, the fines had doubled and I discovered I had received a second $35 fine at the intersection.
Ingrid Walker
But cities have struggled to find the proper way to regulate traffic speeds.
Chicago saw a 16% reduction in speeding collisions around traffic cameras between 2012 and 2022, according to city reports.
The city also experienced a 22% increase in speed-impacted collisions on road corridors that are not actively monitored by cameras.
Mayor Brandon Johnson initially ran on a platform that promised to phase out speed cameras across the city.
His entourage was fined $1,640 after cameras captured the vehicles allegedly speeding.
However, the mayor’s 2024 budget includes a $348 million increase in traffic cameras.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
