Illinois cameras would ticket speeders on King Bridge
Smile for the camera! On Tuesday, the Illinois House passed a bill to the Senate which would allow the State of Illinois to install cameras that would monitor motorists speeds and ticket those drivers speeding across the Martin Luther King Bridge at East St. Louis.
The bills was passed in the house by a 68-41 vote.
The cameras will track a car's speed using radar and take a picture of the license plate of the speeding car and then mail the ticket to the owner of the car
Legislators opposing the bill believe that the driver of a speeding vehicle should receive a speeding ticket, not the owner. "My kid is going to speed down the highway, and the parent is going to be the one on the hook for the ticket," warned Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Countryside. Opponents also believe that using the cameras to catch speeders is a little too "Big Brother."
Lawmakers who may not be suppoters of the high tech surveillance do say the design of the bridge makes this stretch of road different. There is nothing on the bridge that divides the oncoming traffic making the bridge particularly dangerous.
Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville says that lawmakers opposed to the bill "need to understand the dangerous nature of this bridge. The Martin Luther King Bridge, year after year, month after month, has terrible, tragic accidents."
Automatic cameras currently are being used in construction zones and at Chicago area toll booths.
Most Republicans in the state legislator opposed the cameras. However, Rep. Ron Stephens R-Troy, believes that an exception needs to be made for the Martin Luther King bridge due to
"tragedy after tragedy.
