It's only going to get worse

Gus Philpott
November 18, 2010

I had the distinct displeasure of driving on the Illinois Tollway today, when I took I-90 from Ill. Rte. 53 west to Rte. 47 at Huntley about 2:45PM. If I knew how to draft (well, I do, but ...), I could have saved some gas...

Most of the drivers were tooling along about 65MPH (in the 55 zone), but once they got to Rte. 59, they seemed to drop the hammer. The pace of the pack picked up to about 72, and there were a few at an estimated 85.

Where are the troopers? I figured it wasn't even worth a call to District 2 about the speeders. Manpower cutbacks mean less and less enforcement (and higher and higher speeds). Add in the tailgaters, lane-changing without signals, and cutting off the driver just passed, and troopers could have a field day - every day.

What Illinois needs is photo radar! And no supervision after conviction. Supposedly, Illinois has photo radar in construction zones, only you never see the warning signs or the radar van.

Our narrow-minded legislators are afraid to protect the law-abiding public by legislative approval of photo radar. (Actually, they are afraid of voter backlash.) There! I've thrown down the gauntlet.