Chicago speed cameras in 2021 sent out a ticket every 11 seconds, meaning that by the time you finish reading this article there will be 21 more drivers unaware they have a rude surprise coming in the mail.
City speed cameras issued 2.3 million tickets through late October, slapping drivers with nearly as many speed camera violations in 10 months as the city issued in 2018, 2019 and 2020 combined. The spike came March 1, the start of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s new policy to ticket drivers going 6 mph over the limit.
And the spike was big. Speed cameras churned out eight times as many tickets per day: $250,000 worth.
Grand total for the first 10 months of 2021: $73.8 million in speed camera fines. So in 10 months, Chicago made about $30 million more than it had in each of the prior three years.
Vanessa Ortiz was among the drivers caught under the new policy. One time she was making what became a very expensive coffee run.
“I’ve lived in Chicago for 13 years overall, starting in 2005, and I have never been pulled over by CPD or Illinois State Police for speeding,” Ortiz said. “The last time I received a speeding ticket was 15 years ago.”
“But there was one day where I went to go get coffee and I got a ticket on the way there and on the way back. It was a $70 cup. And of course, I didn’t know that until afterward when I got the notice for the two, I already received nine speeding tickets from the city.”
“And the max ticket was allegedly 38 miles an hour.”
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