Topic: Illinois motorists often get a pass to go well beyond speed limit

[oldcoastie6468]

Let 'er rip, pedal to the metal, hear it roar!  

3 page report.

Illinois motorists often get a pass to go well beyond speed limit

Tribune analysis shows that most citations for speeding on Chicago-area interstates are for driving far above the legal limit

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By Ted Gregory and Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune reporters
December 13, 2013

Early in his 27-year career as an Illinois state trooper, Rich Decker got an education in the real speed limits on Illinois interstates.

At two hearings in Cook County traffic court, the judges ordered drivers to stand if they'd been ticketed for 70 mph or less, he recalled. Each time, about 20 people stood. Each time, the judges immediately dismissed their tickets.

"That taught me a lesson a long time ago," said Decker, who retired in September. "I know that my tolerance level turned to 80 (mph). But I could still go out and pound out 10 tickets a night, no problem."

A Chicago Tribune analysis of state ticket data shows that Decker's high threshold for speeding still exists among troopers and motorists. Posted limits on most Chicago-area interstates are 55 mph, but the data suggest the real speed limit in that zone — the point at which most drivers get a ticket — is closer to 80 mph.

That glaring discrepancy may be exacerbated by a drastic decline in the number of troopers patrolling for interstate speeders — reflected in fewer speeding tickets issued in recent years. Some troopers said extensive swaths of interstate highways are left largely unpatrolled.

The data raise questions about whether speed limits are enforceable in Illinois, which is set to raise those limits to 70 mph on many interstates mostly outside metro Chicago. And it brings up the possibility of a controversial speed-enforcement technology, speed-measuring cameras, already in use on Chicago streets and highway construction zones.

The ticket analysis follows an earlier Tribune review of state speed studies that found most Illinois Tollway drivers travel faster than 66 mph in the 55-mph zones that were studied. In some stretches, 1 in 7 drivers sped at least 20 mph over the limit.

Both reviews suggest an uneasy truce between most area drivers and troopers patrolling interstates. Most drivers stay below 75 mph, while troopers typically pick off the fastest drivers who push beyond that — leaving the numbers posted on white signs beside the road largely irrelevant.

The 'real' limit

Officers are reminded to be "charitable to the inadvertent violator," typically a driver traveling at up to 9 mph over the limit, said retired Trooper Mark Meiresonne, who patrolled areas of eastern and western Illinois until he retired in 2007. At 10 mph over the limit, the Illinois State Police manual mandates that a trooper write a ticket, Meiresonne said.

But that rarely happens on area interstates.

The Tribune's latest review examined state police speeding tickets on interstates in the six-county metro area over the past four years. It found that in 55-mph zones, troopers wrote 85 percent of speeding tickets to drivers at 75 mph and higher. The majority of tickets — 60 percent — were written to motorists traveling 80 mph or faster.

Past and present troopers told the Tribune that such tolerance has long been a part of speed enforcement.

Mike Powell patrolled the interstates from 1989 to 1999. Now president of the troopers union, Illinois Troopers Lodge 41, Powell said he "would agree" that the real, enforced interstate speed limit is 80 mph.

"I didn't even pay attention to a car unless they were in the upper 70s," Powell added.

A current trooper who has been patrolling Chicago-area interstates for more than 20 years said the unofficial 80 mph limit "sounds about right. There's not much wiggle room after 80," said the trooper, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified.

It's unclear how the tolerance will be affected by the new law raising interstate speed limits in much of the state to 70 mph. State officials have yet to decide how much, if at all, to raise the limit on most stretches of highway in metro Chicago.

The Tribune analysis does show that, in past years, the 80-mph threshold for tickets seems to hold even in stretches with 65-mph limits.

Illinois State Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the concentration of tickets at 80 mph might simply mean that officers have decided to target "the most egregious speeds that could cause the most damage."

She also said speeding is one of four crucial traffic safety factors troopers must police, the others being drunken driving, seat belt use and distracted driving. Texting is a particular concern recently, she said, noting that three recent texting details yielded 316 tickets for the violation in a six-hour period.

Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-illinois-speeding-enforcement-met-20131213,0,4981937.story

[LadyVirginia]

hmmm, interesting

[richb]

When you consider that interstates were designed for people to go 70..............

If the troopers were to ticket all who were speeding,  they would have to ticket 95% of the drivers.   Though I have noticed the worst speeders are Cook County police (they aren't the ones writing tickets either),  the rocket along in the left lane on I-294 doing at least 95.   To be honest the unsafe drivers are the slower moving ones as they create bottlenecks as some think they should be the ones slowing traffic. 

Most speed limits are set too low to begin with.   At least cops and judges see it sometimes. 

[Glock32]

I agree with rich. I think people driving slow on the Interstates are more dangerous than the fast drivers. It's been proven that the number one traffic contribution to crashes isn't any particular behavior, it's speed differential in general. Anything that impedes the flow of traffic contributes to crashes.

I'm biased I guess. I have a lead foot. But on the beltway around Charlotte I've been passed going over 90 mph. There's always somebody with an even more leaden foot than mine. And I love those people, they're like my own personal radar shield.

[ToddF]

People do not drive 55.  Period.  I think most are happy in the 70-75 range, whether the limit is 55 or 70.

[Libertas]

I agree with rich. I think people driving slow on the Interstates are more dangerous than the fast drivers. It's been proven that the number one traffic contribution to crashes isn't any particular behavior, it's speed differential in general. Anything that impedes the flow of traffic contributes to crashes.

I'm biased I guess. I have a lead foot. But on the beltway around Charlotte I've been passed going over 90 mph. There's always somebody with an even more leaden foot than mine. And I love those people, they're like my own personal radar shield.

I too favor being quick and "making a move" to get around accidents and other clogs is SOP with me...but I too get passed by the suicidally fast...you know what I say when that happens?

"Go find 'em, pal!"

 

[Libertas]

People do not drive 55.  Period.  I think most are happy in the 70-75 range, whether the limit is 55 or 70.

Yup.

Except when on the northen autobahn (I35) north of the cities going up to Duluth...especially in the warm months...80 is almost the median...

[LadyVirginia]

Some years ago I was stuck in traffic that didn't move for over 3 hours when going west bound through Indiana on 94 (this was 6 hours after the accident).  A woman in a van was hit by a truck because as he crested the hill he could not stop from hitting her as she was only traveling at 45 mph. Her kids were thrown clear and were laying dazed on the roadway when another truck came over the hill and hit them. The mother and 2 kids died.

When I see slow cars it scares me.

[oldcoastie6468]

Try the Dan Ryan expressway in Chitcago. The "natives" have their own special lanes - the right and left shoulders, and they fly down those shoulders at 85-90 MPH.

One time, when I worked in the city, one of 'em pulled onto the shoulder behind me and immediately rear ended a State Police car on the shoulder. Both vehicles were totaled. The cop just ambled back slowly, gun drawn, hauled the bloody driver out of the car and threw him on the pavement.

Justice served!

The "native" bikers fly down the road between the lanes, weaving in and out of traffic.

And none of them has insurance.

[KittenClaws]

In West Texas, if you're not doing 80, you're not getting anywhere.

[oldcoastie6468]

In West Texas, if you're not doing 80, you're not getting anywhere.

It's that way in many western states. But not Arizona, for some reason.