Multiple news outlets, including NBC 5 and WTTW, reported last week that Chicago’s City Council is discussing lowering certain city street speed limit’s from 30 MPH down to 25 MPH.
The proposal was supposed to go to a vote last week, but the bill’s sponsor, Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward), withdrew the planned vote at the last minute. It is not clear why the vote was withdrawn, but I think it is safe to assume he did not have the enough support from his fellow Aldermen. The push to lower speed limits comes from concern about a recent surge in Chicago pedestrian fatalities in the past few years. La Spata said the push to reduce the speed limit on most city roads was an effort to make the city’s roadways safer after a surge of deaths in recent years.
Reducing a car’s speed by just a few miles per hour significantly increases the chance of surviving a crash and reduces serious injuries, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.
The City Council voted 49-1 to create a working group to devlope ways Chicago can change its traffic ticketing system so Black, Latino and low-income residents are no longer disproportionately hit with fines. La Spata said the working group would address concerns that reducing the city’s speed limit would give city officials a way to ease Chicago’s financial crunch by hitting drivers who refuse to slow down with fines and fees.
It will be interesting to see if the City Council decides to revisit this proposal sometime later this year. With more and more workers returning to work in the office downtown since the pandemic, we are seeing much more foot traffic around Chicago, especially in the downtown loop.
If you or someone you know has been seriously injured in a Chicago traffic accident or Chicago truck accident, then call for a free legal consulation with the Bryant Law Group at 312-614-1076 or go directly to the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com.