PRESS RELEASE from the
ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE

CONTACT: Rebecca Susmarski (312) 607-4977

Crash injuries quadruple in school zones in 2022 despite $84.5M in speed-camera tickets 
Illinois Policy Institute investigation finds increased traffic collisions in and around the top areas the city claimed the automated devices would protect

CHICAGO (March 20, 2023) – An Illinois Policy Institute investigation shows Chicago’s speed-camera program has not improved public safety near school zones or parks as city leaders claimed it would.

The cameras did collect a lot of revenue in 2022: $84.5 million.

The investigation found vehicle collisions in school zones nearly tripled from just 23 in 2021 to 67 last year. That was more than in any year since 2015. There were also 18 injuries resulting from school-zone crashes in 2022, over four times more than were reported in 2021. Crashes near parks increased from 923 in 2021 to 943 in 2022.

In March 2021, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot got the city’s speed camera policy changed so drivers speeding 6-10 mph over the limit received a $35 ticket in the mail. The cameras issued over 2.8 million tickets and took in $89 million that year, but traffic fatalities increased.

This past year, the city issued 2.56 million speed-camera tickets: one ticket every 12 seconds, and equivalent to sending more than two citations per Chicago household. The cameras raised $84.5 million in fines, less than in 2021 but still more than double the revenue from the year before the speed camera ticket threshold was lowered.

Chicago’s speed cameras continue to cash in on drivers:  

• There were 21 speed cameras that each earned over $1 million for the city. Five of those cameras issued over $2 million in fines to motorists, with the top camera at Horner Park sending $4.14 million in tickets.
• Chicago Department of Finance data showed 38% of the city’s most lucrative speed cameras were on Chicago’s South Side, including two of the $2 million-plus cameras. City data shows 536,136 speed camera tickets, or one-in-five issued last year, incurred a late fee.
• Chicago’s Clear Path Relief program and other city ticket relief programs, intended to help low-income drivers who were disproportionately ticketed, were used in just 0.52% of speed camera fines in 2022.

"Despite the mayor’s claim that Chicago’s speed cameras are designed to improve public safety, especially near schools and parks, collisions in school zones increased as the speed cameras funneled cash to city coffers," said Amy Korte, executive vice president for the nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute. "The data confirm what everyone in Chicago has known for a long time – Chicago’s speed-camera program is primarily a cash grab for the city. Whoever becomes Chicago’s next mayor would be doing the city a favor by ending this regressive program that  studies have shown disproportionately hurts the city’s low-income residents."

To read more about Chicago’s speed cameras, visit illin.is/speedcam.

For bookings or interviews, contact media@illinoispolicy.org or (312) 607-4977.