A speed camera at 1638 N. Ashland Ave. [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]
WICKER PARK — Five speed cameras near two Wicker Park and West Town schools have issued $1 million in fines, averaging $6,125.96 daily over a 10-month-period, according to a DNAinfo Chicago analysis.
Operating from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on school days since April 2014, three cameras near Roberto Clemente Community Academy, 1147 N. Western Ave., and two cameras by Jonathan Burr Elementary School, 1621 W. Wabansia Ave., have collectively issued 11,482 tickets totaling $1,012,545 in fines.
Designed to reduce speeding violations, the cameras are among almost 150 installed in Child Safety Zones within 1/8 of a mile of either a school or a park across the city.
Michael Claffey, a Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman, said speeding is reduced by 31 percent in the first month of a camera's installation when compared to speeding rates during the sixth months before the cameras.
The majority of those tickets — 9,395 — carry a $100 fine for vehicles going more than 11 mph over the speed limit, while 2,087 tickets had $35 fines for vehicles traveling exactly 10 mph over the limit.
Currently, the city is only ticketing for vehicles traveling 10 mph or more over the 30 mph limit, or 20 mph when children are present before 4 p.m, Claffey said.
Since April 2014, the three Clemente cameras have issued $653,740 in fines, while the two cameras near Burr Elementary School have registered $358,805 in fines.
A camera at 1229 N. Western Ave. generated 4,168 tickets over 168 days totaling $2,172.20 in fines daily and was the most productive of the five local cameras.
A camera across from Jonathan Burr School, 1635 N. Ashland Ave., generated 2,870 tickets over 166 days, totaling $1,555.84 daily.
Ben Woodard and Tanveer Ali break down the speed camera data:
Whitney Schaap, an interior designer based in Ukrainian Village, got two $100 tickets over two consecutive days in June last year.
Both tickets were for speeding in April 2014, the same month that the cameras were installed in front of the school. A city fact sheet on Automated Speed Enforcement said the city does not issue tickets with fines during the first month of a speed camera installation.
"I didn't even bother to contest, because they had a time-stamped image of my car, it was so long before, and I knew I'd lose no matter what. How else is our dear city supposed to get out of debt? After the tickets, I switched my [work commute] route to Damen where it is slower by nature, and no cameras," Schaap said.
Jim O'Brien, a Wicker Park resident, was the recipient of one of the 1,803 warning tickets that did not carry fines.
O'Brien said his warning ticket for speeding past 1638 N. Ashland Ave. said he was traveling 45 mph, which he said was "impossible."
"I was turning left onto Ashland from North Avenue [about 1 block from the Burr camera] and would have had to floor it to get to 45 mph mid-block," O'Brien said.
Oliver Jones, a Wicker Park resident, was playing with his daughter on the Burr playground on Sunday.
Jones said his wife got a ticket while driving over the limit in front of Burr last summer when the cameras were first introduced.
"I blame myself for not being more aware that speed cameras exist here. They use them in my home town of Leicestershire, England and there is one part of town where there are three speed cameras spaced 500 yards apart and you can lose your license in three strikes out on that one road," Jones said.
Since receiving the ticket, Jones said neither he nor his wife have incurred any more tickets, though they both drive past the cameras frequently.
O'Brien said the warning ticket has made him cautious.
"I always keep it under 30 [mph] when going past the cameras," O'Brien said.
Claffey said 81 percent of violators who were issued a violation in a school zone did not violate a second time. In park zones, 67 percent of violators did not repeat the offense.
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