On May 21, the Active Transportation Alliance heralded the Illinois House and Senate passing the “Stop Super Speeders” bill (HB 4948), which spokesperson Ted Villaire wrote “will make our streets safer by reigning in repeat reckless drivers.” The legislation set the stage for using Intelligent Speed Assistance tech, which employs onboard sensors and GPS to stop the most reckless motorists from going faster than the legal speed limit..
“Research shows that a small number of ‘super speeders’ are responsible for a disproportionately large share of deadly crashes,” Villaire explained. “These drivers are several times more likely than typical motorists to be involved in deadly collisions, and traditional enforcement – such as license suspension – has proven largely ineffective. Nationally, 75 percent of drivers with a suspended license continue to drive.”
As many Streetsblog readers are aware, earlier this month in Chicago there was a tragic example of the ineffectiveness of license suspension, albeit one that didn’t involve speeding. Among the multiple citations issued to the motorist who fatally “doored” Complete Streets Planner Riley O’Neil on June 5 on Halsted Street in Bridgeport, was driving with a suspended license.
According to Villaire, the Super Speeders bill passed the full House with a 77-24 vote, and then the Senate Transportation Committee approved in a unanimous 18-0 decision after previously passing the full Illinois House with a 77-24 vote. The legislation passed the full Senate on May 20 with a super-majority of 49-9, and traffic safety boosters rejoiced…