Illinois Speed Cameras Will Take Your License Away

from the ah,-this-again dept

Wed, Mar 30th 2005 7:19pm — Mike Masnick

Bob Dole writes "If you ever happen to drive through Illinois, but skipped any of the Techdirt items about how inaccurate speed cameras can be -- you better go back and read up. That's because the state has announced that it will begin using the photo radar in freeway "work zones." You know what that means -- toss up a few cones, lower the speed limit and let the ticketing begin. First offense brings in $375 in revenue. A second ticket earns the state a cool grand. Oh, and you lose your license for 90 days. And you get points on your license, which means your insurance will go up. (That, incidentally, is the reason why the insurance industry is the #1 promoter of cameras.) This represents not just the harshest penalties for a camera system in the U.S., it's one of the harshest in the world. You can get a few tickets in the UK and Australia before losing your license. Open season on Illinois motorists begins in July, and federal regulators are pushing to expand similar programs nationwide. "

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

13 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

primal me, 31 Mar 2005 @ 7:44am

let open season begin is right!

looks as tho the camels nose is getting firmly in.
just makes for an effective way to start regulating
travel, i think. We as a society are already well
on our way down the slippery slope in so many ways its almost uncountable.

and we as a society are letting the few of the Monolithic government machine get away with this type of asinine behaviour... shame on us.

[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Joe Schmoe, 31 Mar 2005 @ 8:33am
  
  Re: let open season begin is right!
  I'm waiting for the day they begin issuing speeding tickets based on tollbooth crossing times per iPass transponders...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2005 @ 11:51am
    
    Re: let open season begin is right!
    If you travelled from Berlin to West Germany 20 years ago, you were fined for speeding if you
    arrived at the destination checkpoint too soon.
    This was under a communist regime.
    Perhaps the US is now falling into the same situation.
    Remember that communism fall because the private sector did not function. I suspect the the US government sector may be in danger of causing
    the US to fail in the same way - burdening the private sector and the consumer by misusing its
    monopoly. With the internet allowing the instant spread of information, this information
    will drive investment and talent away from the US
    with foreseeable consequences.
    
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
doodadman, 31 Mar 2005 @ 10:41am

thresholds...
As the costs of getting caught by these things goes up, the more likely it becomes that some pissed off drivers will begin seeking out and destroying them.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2005 @ 9:18pm

Results
This is an expected progression of this type surveillance technology; combine a speed monitoring system with a state's dire need for revenue without raising taxes and public ire, and this is what you'll eventually get.
Actually it's the big auto manufacturers who stand to lose in this one, as the long term effect of this kind of legislation will convince less people to drive and/or buy a car, and instead use public transportation.
Not that that's a bad thing mind you..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Voice of reason, 23 Aug 2006 @ 1:17pm

Obey the law
Obey the law, abide by the speed limit and you will not get a ticket. Speed cameras are extremely accurate and widely used in Europe. Travel the Illinois highways and count the number of cars abiding by the speed limit. You won't find many. People die in car accidents every year because there are not enough police officers to enforce the law and people do not drive the speed limit. This issue has nothing to do with Communism, surveillance or monolithic governments. The issue is saving lives. That life that is saved could be yours. Look at the drastic change mandating seat belts had. Everyone belly ached the same complaints then. I for one am glad to see speed cameras.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Alex Long, 14 Jun 2007 @ 2:12am
  
  Re: Obey the law
  It's not about safety, it's about money. Look up some stuff on the German Autobahn. They have a safe crash rate comparable to our's, and they commonly go 120-150mph. I understand slowing it down for energy conservation, but the reason they have speed cameras is for money. I saw one of these speed cameras in Illinois just now.(I live in Missouri and was shocked Illinois actually had them) I slowed it down to below 55mph(the speed limit), and 3 cars passed me at an estimated 65-70 mph and probably got caught by the thing. I agree with slowing it down in construction areas too. I just hope they don't touch the rest of the freeway, so I can do my usual 90-100mph in rural areas when nobody's around. If they put speed cameras there, I'm speeding it up to over 150 mph in the areas I know there are none, so look out!! hehe just messin'!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
John Claire, 30 Jun 2007 @ 8:35am

Let's remain reasonable
Speeding doesn't cause construction worker fatalities, driving outside of the lines does. I know that sounds silly, but you can't argue that it's not true. (Can't a worker can be killed even at 20 MPH?) The question I want offer: what is much more likely to make one drive outside of the lines, inattention, or driving faster than the construction's (arbitrarily) posted speed limit? I'd argue inattention, by a longshot. Inattention to the standing traffic ahead. Inattention to weather conditions. Inattention to what your vehicle is capable of (holding the road & stopping distance). Inattention to the condition of the upcoming uneven road. Inattention to the new lane configurations/curves. Inattention to the inattention of the driver in front of you! Let's face it, there's a lot to pay attention to! Toss a radio or cellular phone into the mix and that attention gets pared down.

I believe the problem here is that since speed is easy to measure, everything gets attributed to being caused by speed. But this reasoning is unfounded. Large pickup trucks are less maneuverable and take more time to stop than does my lighter 2-door car with 4-wheel disc antilock brakes. How does our sharing the same speed restriction make construction workers any safer, especially when the pickup truck driver may be on his cellular phone? It is up to each driver to know the limitations of his/her vehicle as well as the situation they find themselves driving in. And shame on lawmakers for not giving this more deep thought.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mike, 15 Jul 2007 @ 12:40pm

Speed Camera
This is bogus as hell. The 4 construction workers killed in 2003 were not killed because of excess speed. This law address a problem that doesn't exist.

This can be overturned. Two ways to fight this. Both of them based on costing the state more than they make from this.

Best one is to take your ticket to court. If everyone who gets one of these does this, it will overwhelm the system in 6 months. Demand a jury trial. you have the right. No way a jury will convict you based on a camera. Even if they do, it will be no worse than just pleading guilty. Make them earn the $375.

Second way is to avoid the state. I scehdule two 200 person conventions a year in Ill. I will move them to another state next year and will send a letter to the CoC explaining why I moved them. Very small impact on the state of Ill, but I won't have to worry about my customers getting hit with this. If everyone did this, it would be noticed.

Or you can set on your backside and let this injustice take place. I live in Kentucky, so I will just avoid your state anyway.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
eye 4 n eye, 27 Jun 2008 @ 10:58am

you get a ticket, you deserve it
Speed down our street, I wanna get in my car, chase you down and bash your brain in, just like my cat got killed by one of you. The towns deserve to use tech to ticket speeders (I used to be one). Use the $ to finance the town, lower taxes. Why not??? whats wrong with that? And, ahhh, MIKE? You are a loser, move your 200 person convention to another state, what a bunch of crap!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Christos T. Sims, 19 Jul 2008 @ 8:55pm

I think A Tea=Party Is Long Overdo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Bill K, 27 Apr 2009 @ 5:32am

I want to put a camera in your house next!
I want the government to watch everything you do all day, then send you a bill for what they think is unsafe behavior. So,if your eating the wrong foods, not having safe sex, or just not doing what the collective group thinks you should be, we can fine you too!
Why not? Health care cost have bankrupted these States too!

STOP THE MADNESS
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mr. Joe Shmoeson, 30 Apr 2009 @ 4:15am

We NEED the Revolution...NOW!!!
People, When OHHHHH when will we stop being a bunch of p u s s i e s ???
Please wake up. These cameras need to be destroyed. Do it in the middle of the night, or on a major holiday.

And YES !!! ALWAYS... ALWAYS DEMAND a JURY TRIAL... NEVER LET THEM SCREW YOU IN 'ANY COURT' WITH ANYTHING LESS !!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]