Editorial: Whatever mayor’s motivation, school speed cameras are the right thing to do

• Reprints

Updated: March 3, 2012 11:36AM

We don’t care what’s motivating Mayor Rahm Emanuel on this one.

Is his push for speeding cameras around schools and parks a ploy to help fill the city’s depleted coffers? Or is it truly an effort to keep children safe from reckless speeders?

We think it’s the latter. It fits with Emanuel’s broader effort to keep kids safe by lowering the city curfew and adding more resources for a school safe passage program, as well as a new citywide pedestrian safety plan. It also fits with Emanuel’s vision of himself — as protector and enforcer.

But again, we don’t care.

What we do care about is enforcing sensible laws that help keep Chicago children safe. Speed cameras within one-eighth of a mile (one block) of schools and parks — cameras designed to catch people who are potentially putting Chicago kids at risk — are the right thing to do.

We know we’re not alone on this, despite strong criticism of state legislation passed in November that lets Chicago for the first time set up automated speeding cameras near schools and parks. Gov. Pat Quinn, who has been silent on the bill, has until Feb. 6 to veto the measure. If he does nothing, it becomes law and goes into effect July 1.

Quinn should sign this bill and give Emanuel one more way to make Chicago safe for children.

If Quinn or others want the law tweaked, that can easily be done by the Chicago City Council, which is required to pass an ordinance to get the speed camera program up and running.

Critics worry the city would blanket the city with cameras, something city officials deny, saying they would set up cameras only in problematic areas. If critics aren’t satisfied with that, or other aspects of its implementation, the council can address their concerns.

But it’s important to note, the bill already offers plenty of safeguards. It limits the cameras to the hours when pedestrians are most likely around and lets drivers off with a warning if they are going between 1 and 5 miles over the speed limit, which is 20 mph near schools and parks. Drivers going 6 to 10 mph over the limit will be ticketed $50. Above that, the fine is $100.

Some critics have said this won’t make as much of a dent in pedestrian fatalities as Emanuel suggests, and they may be right. Citing statistics from a city pedestrian study, the Chicago Tribune found that more than half of the city’s 251 fatalities between 2005 and 2009 occurred outside Emanuel’s safety zones.

This is an argument for more cameras, not fewer. But if installing the cameras is all that’s done, it’s still worth it. Between 2005 and 2009, more than 7,700 pedestrian crashes occurred within one-eighth mile of a school or park, city data shows.

One life saved, one life-altering injury prevented, is more than enough. Studies clearly show that the lower the speed the more likely a pedestrian is to survive a crash.

And if the city’s coffers end up overflowing with cash from Chicagoans who drive recklessly? (Money that must be spent on pedestrian and public safety, infrastructure or after-school programming).

You won’t hear any complaints from us.