The story of red-light cameras in Chicago and the rest of Illinois has been a dismal saga of government money-grabbing and corruption that came about, in many cases, under the false justification of safety. You would think conscientious elected officials would be looking for ways to reduce their reliance on this source of revenue, which often inflicts hardship on those least able to afford it.
But as part of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2021 budget plan, she proposes to issue tickets to motorists caught driving just 6 mph over the speed limit — down from the current 10 mph minimum. A first offense for driving from 6 to 9 mph above the limit would elicit a warning; a second would carry a $35 fine. The change is essential to her plan to boost city revenue from fines, forfeitures and penalties by some $38 million more than her administration forecast for 2020, before the pandemic dried up collections.
We know from experience that a lopsided share of the cash from this change would come out of the pockets of poor and minority residents. It would inflict damage on those who simply lack the money to pay the fines. Five unpaid tickets from red-light or speed cameras can trigger a license suspension. You might think that’s a decent cushion, but imagine if you drive for a living or travel regularly into unfamiliar territory — grocery or restaurant delivery, package drop-offs, Uber, taxi, Amazon, trucking or sales. The camera brigade is strict.
A 2018 investigation by ProPublica Illinois found that drivers who reside in the state’s predominantly Black ZIP codes got 44% of all driver’s license suspensions, though African Americans make up just 14% of Illinois residents. Of the 20 areas with the highest rate of suspensions, 18 were mostly Black. Motorists living in low-income ZIP codes got nearly 54% of the suspensions. Expensive city vehicle stickers also trap low-income residents.
The effects can be devastating. Losing a driver’s license can mean losing a job for lack of transportation — and remember, these are people who already were so financially strapped, or facing other challenges, they couldn’t just pop a check in the mail or roll it onto a credit card, like many frustrated motorists. “Close to 1 in 5 Chicago motorists threatened with license suspensions over unpaid tickets in 2016 filed for bankruptcy,” reported ProPublica.
Those who resort to driving without a license to get to work can be arrested, sucking them into the criminal justice system, which can mean more fines and fees, as well as possible jail time. There’s a term for this: “Driving while broke.” Some states have abandoned the practice of suspending licenses for unpaid fines and fees.
None of this is news to Lightfoot, one of the many 2019 mayoral candidates who vowed to reform this ruinous policy. “It’s unacceptable that our ticketing system is having such a devastating impact on low-income people and people of color,” she told Tribune columnist Eric Zorn.
Mari Castaldi, director of policy and advocacy at the Chicago Jobs Council, which works to expand economic opportunity for people living in poverty, says the mayor is doing just the opposite here. “This proposal is likely to send economically struggling Chicagoans further into debt while offering questionable benefits to public safety,” she told the Tribune.
In January, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation that scrapped the policy of suspending driver’s licenses for unpaid tickets for illegal parking and several nonmoving violations that don’t include speed cameras.
But the city says average speeds are up this year, with speeding tickets per camera rising by 78% since March, and that stricter enforcement will bring them down. Yet the safety benefits are uncertain. As the Tribune reports, the data from the first nine months of both 2019 and 2020 show that “fatal crashes blamed specifically on people driving recklessly, over the speed limit, too fast for conditions or too fast to avoid a crash are up by one — from 19 to 20. Serious crashes blamed on any of those factors — which resulted in death or incapacitating injuries — are down 20% year over year, from 356 in 2019 to 286 in 2020.”
It’s long been clear that the use of traffic cameras is often more about boosting revenue than preventing accidents. A 2017 Tribune investigation found that many red-light cameras, ostensibly meant to curb accidents at dangerous places, were installed at intersections that scored well on safety measures. The cameras are also greatly mistrusted because their financial windfalls resulted in two major corruption investigations in Illinois, one in Chicago and one in the suburbs.
It’s understandable that Lightfoot, facing a huge budget shortfall next year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, is scrounging everywhere to find revenue. But this is the wrong way to fill the gap. Hitting more drivers with more traffic tickets is bound to take money out of impoverished neighborhoods, crippling efforts to foster economic growth, to the detriment of the city as a whole. Seeking out this type of revenue was one of the most controversial and inequitable protocols her predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, undertook. Why repeat it?
Along with the city Department of Transportation, the mayor’s office is conducting an audit to determine whether there are racial disparities in traffic camera ticketing. It’s not due until next year. Shouldn’t she wait for that report before considering the expanded implementation of this practice?
Our hope is that the mayor is using the camera proposal as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations with the City Council — something to be subbed out for another more appropriate and effective cost reduction or revenue generator, rather than as a true priority for her administration. Either way, she should give it up.
Editorials reflect the opinion of the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board.
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