Courts Not Yet Enforcing Camera Speeding Tickets

In a rather interesting article in today's Chicago Tribune, there is a report that courts are not enforcing tickets issued by van's equipped with cameras that record speeders and mail them tickets with photographs of their vehicle. So far this year, Cook County has not recorded a single conviction for any such traffic tickets issued. The Illinois Vehicle Code provides for hefty and painful penalties for motorist convicted of speeding in a work zone. The mandatory fine for speeding in a 45 m.p.h. work zone is $375, approximately $300 in court costs and a conviction that would remain on a motorists permanent driving record. This could cause a motorist's auto insurance premiums to be increased. So far this year, 814 such tickets have been issued in Cook County. 59.3% have been dismissed and the remainder have been reduced to regular speeding offenses. In 2007, 1,136 such tickets were issued and only 4.9% were convicted. In 2006, 1,528 such tickets were issued and only 4.8% were convicted. Cases get dismissed because the pictures are not clear enough to convict or police files do not come to court in time. Judge Walter Williams, the supervising traffic court judge, expressed suprise at the numbers and indicated that nobody had bought this to his attention.

Chicago motorists should anticipate that prosecutors and judges will make a greater effort to crack down on these tickets now that this article has been published and come to the public's attention.

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