New Speed Cameras Making $$$

When they keep the publicity to a minimum, people (and folks) tend to not notice they're pockets being picked:

• Chicago drivers are getting slammed by new speed cameras that went live in June.

  The 22 new cameras helped the city issue more than 91,000 speeding tickets over their first month of operation, according to a Sun-Times/WBEZ analysis of city data.

  In all, city data shows 186 speed cameras issued more than 240,000 tickets in June, the most in any month in nearly three years.

  If history provides a guide, the new cameras will continue to catch drivers unaware until they change their habits. Five of the city’s six highest-ticketing cameras in June were cameras that started operating that month.

The Sun Times actually broaches the question if the cameras are properly calibrated:

• He said he hopes the camera will slow drivers down. But Johnson and another neighbor who spoke with a Chicago Sun-Times reporter are skeptical that the camera is ticketing only speeders. Earlier this summer, ABC7 reported that several city speed cameras were inaccurate by less than 1 mph, though the city says that’s within the legal limit.

And then they revert to form, claiming speed cameras are racist:

• Studies have shown the cameras are more likely to ticket Black and Brown drivers. But the cameras are also proven to improve traffic safety and potentially help the city tackle its stubbornly high rate of vehicle fatalities, which disproportionately affect the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

Which we have pointed out, when you don't bother to maintain your vehicle properly or bother to pass a Drivers Ed course, you tend to be ignorant of the Rules of the Road and/or being able to read street signs.

But Conehead needs his money, so there won't be any real investigations.