NHTSA Opens Investigation into Tesla Gaming Software

Posted on December 22, 2021 by admin

Patton plays games driving Model 3 — Journalist Vince Patton demonstrates its possible to play video games while driving his Tesla Model 3.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) it is investigating 580,000 Tesla vehicles sold since 2017 that allow those seated up front to play games on the infotainment touchscreen while the vehicle is in motion.

The investigation stems from a complaint filed with agency earlier this month by Vince Patton, a retired journalist from Portland, Oregon.

The formal safety investigation, which was announced Wednesday, covers 2017-2022 Tesla Model 3, S, X, and Y vehicles. NHTSA opened the investigation “based on reports that Tesla gameplay functionality, which is visible on the front center touchscreen from the driver’s seat, is enabled even when the vehicle is being driven.”

Tesla made the software more dangerous

The 2021 Tesla Model S gets an all-new interior, a yoke-style steering wheel and the updated software being investigated by NHTSA.

The feature, known as “Passenger Play,” increases the risk of a crash. Since December 2020, the feature can be used while driving. Prior to that, it could only be used when the vehicle was in Park. The agency said that it is evaluating aspects of the feature, including how frequently it’s used and when.

NHTSA is concerned about distracted driving, an increasing risk as automakers bring increased online connectivity to infotainment touchscreens. Distracted driving caused 3,142 deaths in 2019, all of them preventable.

While Passenger Play does have a warning stating the game is meant solely for passengers. Although it asks for confirmation that the player is a passenger and not the driver, there is nothing preventing the driver from playing while driving.

Other Tesla safety issues

Consumer Reports criticized the performance of Tesla’s latest version of Autopilot.

It’s not NHTSA’s only Tesla safety investigation, nor Tesla’s only safety issue.

In August, the agency opened a formal safety investigation of 765,000 Teslas equipped with its Autopilot driver-assistance system after 11 crashes involving parked emergency vehicles killed one person and injured 17. The inquiry covers 2014-2021 Models S, X, Y and 3.

In October, Tesla had to roll back full self-driving, or FSD, with Musk revealing that the company is “seeing some issues with 10.3, so rolling back to 10.2 temporarily.”

And in November, Tesla issued a recall for 11,704 vehicles sold in the U.S. since 2017. The recall covers Model S, X, 3 and Y vehicles and came about as a result of an over-the-air firmware update of the automaker’s “Full Self-Driving Beta,” its advanced driver assistance system.

The company identified a software communication error that could cause the forward-collision warning or automatic emergency brake system to falsely activate, possibly leading to a rear-end collision.

Other OEM infotainment issues

2022 Mercedes EQS 580 4Matic black daytime — The new Mercedes-Benz EQS was recalled after it was found that its MBUX system allowed television and internet to be displayed while driving

Other automakers are far more concerned over distracted driving than Tesla. On November 29, Mercedes-Benz recalled 227 vehicles in the U.S. after the company discovered that its MBUX infotainment system allowed television and internet to be displayed while driving.

The recall affected 2021 Mercedes-Benz S580, 2022 EQS450, EQS580, and S500 models. Mercedes-Benz has already corrected the problem, and no deaths or injuries seem to have resulted from the problem.

Musk pays billions to satisfy tax bill

In other Tesla news, Reuters is reporting that Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold 10% of his own company stock, 13.5 million shares, 8.06 million of which were sold to pay taxes. The billionaire said he is paying more than $11 billion in taxes this year.

“California used to be the land of opportunity and now it is … becoming more so the land of sort of overregulation, overlitigation, overtaxation,” Musk told Reuters, adding his combined federal and state tax rate tops 50 percent.

The tax bill may explain why Musk recently relocated Tesla’s headquarters to Austin, Texas from Palo Alto, California.

But taxes aren’t Musk’s only concern.

The company has submitted all the documentation required to get its factory approved near Berlin, Germany. Approval of Tesla’s newest manufacturing facility has been delayed by environmental concerns and red tape due to Tesla’s decision to add a battery factory to the site. That has delayed the approval process. It remains unclear when the new plant is expected to open.

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Vaccine Mandates Being Considered By Auto Industry, UAW

Posted on September 10, 2021 by admin

<img data-attachment-id=”1773672″ data-permalink=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/09/vaccine-mandates-being-considered-by-auto-industry-uaw/covid-19vaccinationrecordcardsissuedbycdcunitedstatescenters/” data-orig-file=”http://gagetruck.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/vaccine-mandates-being-considered-by-auto-industry-uaw-5.jpg” data-orig-size=”1000,667″ data-comments-opened=”1″ data-image-meta=”{“aperture”:”0″,”credit”:”Shutterstock”,”camera”:””,”caption”:””,”created_timestamp”:”0″,”copyright”:”Copyright (c) 2021 Michael Vi\/Shutterstock. No use without permission.”,”focal_length”:”0″,”iso”:”0″,”shutter_speed”:”0″,”title”:”Covid-19,Vaccination,Record,Cards,Issued,By,Cdc,(united,States,Centers”,”orientation”:”1″}” data-image-title=”Covid-19,Vaccination,Record,Cards,Issued,By,Cdc,(united,States,Centers” data-image-description=”

Michael Vi/Shutterstock

With the Biden administration having announced that it would start requiring companies to vaccinate employees, automakers and UAW are finding themselves in a sticky situation. Unions had previously said they wanted to hold off on endorsing or opposing mandatory vaccinations until after they discussed things with the industry and their own members. Considering Joe Biden said he wouldn’t make vaccines mandatory less than 10 months ago, employers are getting caught with their pants around the proverbial ankles.

Automakers had previously been surveying white-collar workers to see what they wanted to do while upping on-site COVID restrictions, but operating under the impression that any hard decisions were likely a long way off and left entirely to their discretion. Now the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is planning a new standard that requires all employers with 100 (or more) employees to guarantee their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any unvaccinated workers to produce a negative test result on a minimum weekly basis.

Employers that fail to implement the stated requirements could face fines of nearly $14,000 per violation, according to the White House, with penalties also doubling for those who refuse to wear masks during interstate travel. Those are potentially steep fees when you’re employees number in the thousands. Union officials have said they’re considering the matter without committing to more than absolutely necessary — though the UAW officially opposed vaccine requirements in the past.

From UAW President Ray Curry:

“The UAW has and continues to strongly encourage all members and their families to be vaccinated unless there is specific health or religious concerns. We know that this is the best way to protect our members, coworkers and their families.

We are reviewing the details of yesterday’s announcements and the impact on our members and our over 700 employer contracts.

In the meantime, we continue our member commitment to practice safety in every one of our worksites by following protocols including masks, sanitizing and reporting any exposure or symptoms of the virus. At the UAW we all understand that fighting this pandemic and protecting our families is key to our survival.”

Assuming the union ultimately decides to endorse the vaccine decree, it’s likely going to be fracturing its membership. While I am hardly against vaccinations, I strongly support informed consent and speaking candidly about this has resulted in autoworkers frequently confessing they’re similarly opposed to forced vaccinations. Many have said they would immediately quit their jobs, matching a recent Washington Post poll claiming 70 percent of unvaccinated workers would simply abandon their positions if vaccine mandates are instituted. It’s my assumption that the industry will have a sudden, catastrophic staffing shortage were it to move forward with the Biden plan.

Automakers have been similarly noncommittal, with manufacturers (including Ford, GM, Stellantis, Honda, and Toyota) stating they encourage staff to get vaccinated and want to adhere to all government-issued health protocols. But they typically steer clear of addressing the Biden plan directly, possibly indicating some hesitancy. That said, it hasn’t even been a full day since the vaccine mandate was announced and their HR and legal departments are probably wringing their hands as they ponder upon what’s to be done and the fallout it might create.

Every statement automakers have been willing to make thus far can be paraphrased into “hold on … we’ve got to think about this,” followed by a paragraph about how they believe in vaccinations and want to adhere to recommendations coming from the relevant health experts. Conversely, very little has been said about the rights or preferences of their employees.

I’m not going to beat around this bush. The entire premise of these mandates seems insane to me, bordering on wicked. As an American, I always thought the whole premise of the country was predicated upon the shared belief that personal liberties and freedom of choice trump everything else. But that doesn’t seem to be what’s coming down from the top anymore. The rhetoric being used by Joe Biden is egregiously confrontational, including statements like “we’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin” as he made sweeping assertions about how the unvaccinated are stifling national unity and progress. He also confusingly stated that vaccinated workers need to be “protected” from the unvaccinated.

Assuming vaccines are effective, shouldn’t it be the other way round? What exactly are we shielding people from when new strains continue to manifest, can still be spread amongst the vaccinated, and the shots we currently have are targeting older COVID variants that have lost steam?

The economic and social stress this is likely to place upon the industry and country as a whole will be nothing short of monumental. Protests have been erupting across the globe all summer. Truckers have started organizing in numerous countries and have refused to deliver to areas imposing strict COVID rules, exacerbating food shortages in urban areas. In the United States, the same was true for cities that opted to defund police departments. Now they’re starting to talk about strikes focused on vaccine and mask mandates while they’re already experiencing a severe shortage of drivers. Imagine if that spills over to an automotive sector that’s already been beleaguered by the semiconductor shortage, their suppliers, and every other industry you rely on.

[Image: Michael Vi/Shutterstock]

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California Judge Rules Against Uber, Lyft on Gig Worker Law

Posted on August 23, 2021 by admin

A California judge set aside a statewide proposition exempting drivers working for companies such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash from the state’s “gig workers” law, which requires employers to provide all employees with benefits, including health care and vacations.

Lyft driver masked — A California judge ruled against the new Prop 22 law approved by voters last fall.

The ruling, in a case filed earlier this year by the Service Employees International Union, is a setback for Uber and Lyft, which have built their business model around part-time drivers and spent millions on the campaign that led to the passage of Proposition 22 in last November’s election.

Uber said it plans to appeal the judge’s decision and is confident it will ultimately prevail. However, judges in California have succeeded in killing off other proposals approved by voters in the past. For example, a judge overturned a ban on gay marriage approved the California voters.

Ruling hurts bid in other states

Dara Khosrowshahi at Elevate event — Uber’s chief, Dara Khosrowshahi, and other execs said the company’s would go bankrupt if they had to make drivers company employees.

The ruling also could slow Uber and Lyft’s efforts to have similar laws, allowing them freedom in determining how to compensate drivers, in other states. A law similar to California’s is now pending in Massachusetts.

“A prohibition on legislation authorizing collective bargaining by app-based drivers does not promote the right to work as an independent contractor, nor does it protect work flexibility, nor does it provide minimum workplace safety and pay standards for those workers,” Alameda Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch wrote in his ruling.

“It appears only to protect the economic interest of the network companies in having a divided, ununionized workforce, which is not a stated goal of the legislation.”

The coalition representing Uber and other companies using gig labor said in a statement Friday that it planned to appeal.

Lyft driver — Lyft teamed up with Uber, DoorDash another to fight for Proposition 22 in California.

“We will file an immediate appeal and are confident the Appellate Court will uphold Prop 22,” said Geoff Vetter, spokesperson for the Protect App-Based Drivers & Services Coalition, in a statement. “Importantly, this Superior Court ruling is not binding and will be immediately stayed upon our appeal. All of the provisions of Prop 22 will remain in effect until the appeal process is complete.”

Unions hail ruling

From the other side of the fight, Bob Schoonover, president of SEIU California State Council, said in a statement, “Today’s ruling by Judge Roesch striking down Proposition 22 couldn’t be clearer: The gig industry-funded ballot initiative was unconstitutional and is therefore unenforceable. Companies like Uber and Lyft spent $225 million in an effort to take away rights from workers in a way that violates California’s Constitution.

“They tried to boost their profits by undermining democracy and the state constitution. For two years, drivers have been saying that democracy cannot be bought. And today’s decision shows they were right,” he added.

California’s courts have sided with the drivers in the rulings leading up to the passage of Prop 22 last fall by the state’s voters. The parties on both sides have been at odds since California passed a law known as Assembly Bill 5 in September 2019. In fact, the companies wanting to keep workers as contractors, thus ineligible for benefits, lost a court case less than two weeks before the current law was passed by voters.

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EU Proposes Ban of Gas- and Diesel-Powered Vehicle Sales by 2035

Posted on July 14, 2021 by admin

The European Union put the final nail of the coffin for gas- and diesel-powered vehicle sales, proposing a complete ban starting in 2035.

BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said the Europe’s infrastructure isn’t equipped to handle tougher proposed emissions targets by the EU.

The move came as part of a much larger package of plans — dubbed “Fit for 55” — to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles on the continent by 55% between now and 2030. The current target is 37.5% by the end of the decade. The same push includes a 100% reduction by 2035. To be clear, these are proposals, not actual mandates — yet.

“This is the sort of ambition we’ve been waiting to see from the EU, where it’s been lacking in recent years,” Helen Clarkson, chief executive of the Climate Group, a non-profit group that works with business and government to tackle climate change, told Reuters.

“The science tells us we need to halve emissions by 2030, so for road transport it’s simple – get rid of the internal combustion engine.”

Unsurprisingly, ACEA, the European auto industry trade group, criticized the tougher proposals, saying the complete elimination of internal combustion-powered vehicles by 2035 was overkill. It noted that ACEA members support the push for carbon neutrality by 2050, but the proposed new standards essentially wipe out billions invested by automakers with that target in mind.

EU can want, but continent is not ready

Volkswagen AG Chairman Herbert Diess has helped lead the charge in the conversion to electric vehicles.

“Ambitious climate targets need a binding commitment from all parties involved. The European Commission today made very clear that the Green Deal can only be successful with mandatory targets for the ramp-up of charging and refueling infrastructure in all member states,” said Oliver Zipse, BMW CEO and ACEA president, in a statement.

The trade group noted the infrastructure is not — and will not — be in place to meet the new targets. Also, the demand for EVs doesn’t warrant a change in plans, Zipse noted.

“The current proposal for an even bigger cut in CO2 emissions by 2030 requires a massive further increase in market demand for electric vehicles in a short timeframe,” stated Zipse. “Without significantly increased efforts by all stakeholders – including member states and all involved sectors – the proposed target is simply not viable.”

Automakers have been announcing product plans focused on the shift toward electrified vehicles for several years. Much of those efforts center on the more lax targets, although some countries like Great Britain, Norway, Japan and Canada, have already implemented or are considering sales bans by 2035.

As a result, several automakers are already targeting earlier dates as the bogey for making a complete shift away. Volvo officials expect to be all electric by 2030, as does Bugatti. General Motors targets 2035 for its shift, but not all have done so, which is cause for alarm in some circles.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the charge for a 2030 sales ban of gas- and diesel-powered cars.

Forcing change

The pushback against the new targets was not a surprise for supporters, who accounted for that in the massive package of proposals. The group recommended legislation forcing EU countries to install public charging points on “major roads” in 37.3-mile intervals by 2025.

This, according to the Reuters report, would result in 3.5 million stations for light vehicles by 2030 with growth to 16.3 million by the time the mandate for carbon neutrality hits in 2050.

To ensure the shift happens by 2035, the proposals require an investment by the 27 countries in the bloc between $95 billion and $142 billion by 2040.

IHS Markit said in a report on Tuesday that if the EU raised its reduction targets to 50% by 2030, it would bring new fossil-fuel car sales across the bloc down basically zero, although overall registrations — which includes used vehicles — would still see ICE vehicles accounting for 48% of vehicles on the road.

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Toyota Donated $55K to Republicans Who Voted Against Certifying 2020 Election Results

Posted on June 29, 2021 by admin

Japanese automaker Toyota donated $55,000 to 37 GOP lawmakers who tried to decertify the results of the 2020 president election.

Axios Toyota chart — Toyota donated $55K to 37 Republican politicians who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

Not only did the Japanese automaker support those politicians, but it was their top supporter — by a lot, according to investigative news website Axios, which pulled the data from a study by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The company’s $55,000 was nearly than double amount of the next closest company, defense company Cubic Corp., which approached nearly $30K in donations. Toyota spread that money out to four times more Republican politicians than the next closest company. Toyota officials defended their donations.

“We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification,” Toyota officials said in a statement emailed to Axios.

“Based on our thorough review, we decided against giving to some members who, through their statements and actions, undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions.”

Influencing U.S. elections is a hot-button issue

For decades, what groups are funding politicians has been a contentious issue, but divisiveness surrounding the funding and influence has escalated in the last two presidential elections — Americans want to know who or what organizations are supporting their politicians and candidates.

In the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 where protestors attempted to overturn the election while several Republicans inside the building attempted to forestall the inevitable, the divide has skyrocketed.

In all, 147 GOP members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against certifying the November 2020 election results that saw former Vice President and Democratic challenger Joe Biden defeat Republican then-President Donald Trump.

Biden captured the popular vote with 81.3 million votes to Trump’s 74.2 million votes. The Electoral College vote was 306 to 232 in favor of Biden with 270 needed to win the presidency.

Since then, Trump and many others have contended the election was stolen. However, neither the Trump campaign nor individual supporters have been able to produce evidence of this, including two cases that went to the Supreme Court — both were shot down.

Where did Toyota’s money go?

The automaker spent big on politicians, including Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican in the U.S. House. Biggs has been an ardent purveyor of what many call “The Big Lie,” the idea that Trump actually won the election.

Axios reported an organizer of the “Stop the Steal” rally that immediately preceded the storming of the Capitol Building Jan. 6, Biggs helped organize the event. Biggs denies the allegation.

The negative response on social media was swift and predictable with thousands expressing their disappointment and vowing to no longer buy a Toyota. Many tweets used plays on words to talk about the newest Camry S-Edition or some other version of it and typing “#toyota” into the search function automatically pulls up #ToyotaHatesDemocracy.

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Driving Dystopia: Speed Camera Rule Change Creates Ticketing Explosion in Chicago

Posted on June 18, 2021 by admin

<img data-attachment-id=”1766244″ data-permalink=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/06/driving-dystopia-speed-camera-rule-change-creates-ticketing-explosion-in-chicago/chicagospeedcameraatstateandchicagoinstalledtocatch/” data-orig-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/shutterstock_1965788128-e1624038518681.jpg” data-orig-size=”4015,3895″ data-comments-opened=”1″ data-image-meta=”{“aperture”:”0″,”credit”:”Shutterstock”,”camera”:””,”caption”:””,”created_timestamp”:”0″,”copyright”:”Copyright (c) 2021 ChicagoPhotographer\/Shutterstock. No use without permission.”,”focal_length”:”0″,”iso”:”0″,”shutter_speed”:”0″,”title”:”Chicago,Speed,Camera,At,State,And,Chicago,Installed,To,Catch”,”orientation”:”1″}” data-image-title=”Chicago Speed Camera” data-image-description=”

ChicagoPhotographer/Shutterstock

At the start of the year, the city of Chicago announced that it would be changing rules pertaining to traffic enforcement as part of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s updated 2021 budget package. But the one that was causing the most concern among motorists was a provision to have speed cameras issue tickets to anybody traveling 6 miles an hour over the posted limit, rather than the previous cutoff of 10 MPH. While just a singular aspect of the city’s plan to resolve a $1.2-billion deficit, it turned out to be one of the most controversial items and appears to have resulted in a tenfold increase in fines.

According to local affiliate CBS Chicago, data from a public records request indicated that during the 36-day period before and after the change took effect on March 1st, citywide ticketing went up from 35,784 citations in the weeks before to a massive 398,233 in the proceeding weeks.

Since the city has stated that some tickets would simply be warnings to remind motorists that the laws had been updated, it’s difficult to get concrete numbers. But the tally for if they had all been legitimate fines is supposed to be a whopping $871,000 despite the cameras being dotted around several alleged “Children’s Safety Zones” near parks and schools that the locals sound rather skeptical of.

From CBS Chicago:

“I see this thing going off all the time,” said Ricky Duddleston who lives right across the street from the speed camera at 3200 S. Archer Ave. “Constantly flashing … I think it’s a scam, man.”

Duddleston doesn’t buy the city’s safety zone reason for putting the camera in this location. There is a small neighborhood park a couple of blocks away. But he said, “There’s no kids walking down this street. Never.”

Money is the motive if you ask Duddleston. “City’s crying broke. How much money you think they make off these things?”

That Archer camera flashed 257 times before March 1 and 11,016 times after. Fines totaled $25,335 for city coffers. Comparing those new ticket numbers to a pre-pandemic year, that camera caught 1,853 speeders during the same period in 2019.

The rest of the CBS piece basically chronicles the massive upshift in fines at several speed camera locations with the locals expressing their dismay and issuing allegations that the city is only seeking ways to accumulate capital — including 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale.

“That’s ridiculous,” he said in response to the sudden deluge of traffic fines. “In times when people can’t afford to pay, now we’re hitting them over the head with ticket after ticket after ticket. This is a revenue generator, period.”

The strife being created here by these automated guardians isn’t new. The Chicago Tribune has been tracking the city’s automated speed camera program since its introduction in 2013 and complained that “hundreds of thousands of tickets” had been issued under “questionable circumstances.” Complaints include cameras that were active outside their posted hours, issuing fines in places where there was no posted speed limit, and school cameras that were active on days class wasn’t in session.

Many cameras have already individually amassed millions of dollars in fines, with Lightfoot’s proposals undoubtedly supercharging those figures if they’re retained or expanded to encompass more areas.

But do they work?

Well, that depends on what you’re hoping to accomplish. If you’re just interested in bilking the public, then you’ll be pleased to learn they’re wildly effective. Though they do seem to result in diminishing returns, as motorists will quickly realize where these cameras are located and attempt to avoid them or simply pass beneath them as slowly as possible, they appear to be rather reliable revenue generators. However, the public certainly doesn’t seem to care for them and lingering questions remain regarding how much safety they actually promote.

I’m often reminded by the decades-long battle the United Kingdom had with speed cameras that I only became aware of whenever Top Gear would have politicians on during the mid-2000s. At the time, the show was routinely butting heads with the likes of Boris Johnson over the politics of restrictive driving laws and doing reports about how speed cameras didn’t seem to be saving any lives.

The UK’s long-term battle with the devices also resulted in a plethora of useful data, most of which supports the idea that they make cities a lot of money. Much of this was complicated by a conflict between existing British and European Union laws, resulting in years of legislation designed to close loopholes that might allow people to escape fines. In 2004, the Transport Research Laboratory published a report claiming cameras increased the risk of serious accidents by 55 percent in work zones and 31 percent on open motorways. It also stated that its research indicated that fatal and life-threatening incidents were 32 percent more likely wherever traffic cameras were located.

But government agencies had assessed that the devices were effective in tamping down speeds, which are often cited as a contributing factor in serious accidents, and remained well aware that they were making money. By 2007, motorists had begun launching petitions to ban speed cameras as the public perception of their efficacy soured. There was even a stint where citizens were routinely going around disabling or destroying the hardware in protest. Subsequent years showed an increased number of departments agreeing to shut down their systems in response. Despite the United Kingdom still having the fourth-largest number of traffic cams per square kilometer, it’s estimated that only about half of them are active.

While we cannot predict the future, one imagines that Chicago would be in for a similarly prolonged conflict if it decides to expand its own camera scheme. Mayor Lightfoot has discussed the possibility of extending the updated rules across the city or simply adding more Children’s Safety Zones. She also recently announced the creation of new “Equity Zones” designed to rebalance discrepancies between ethnicities after she declared racism a public health crisis earlier in the week. Critics have stated that it looks to be a clever ploy to free up $10 million for special projects and bemoaned her use of the term equity (rather than equality), while advocates have pointed out there there are indeed divergencies in the public health of Chicago. We’re just wondering whether or not she’ll want those zones to enact predatory speed camera settings or if they’ll be subject to the standard level of traffic restrictions.

Lightfoot hasn’t said yet. Though she did issue a response to the city’s updated camera laws:

“The change in the speeding threshold was implemented in response to an alarming increase in vehicle speeding and traffic fatalities. This change affects the City’s 68 Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) Children’s Safety Zones, which are operational near schools when they are in session and children are present, and in parks during hours when they are open.

Forty-three more people died in traffic crashes in Chicago in 2020, a 45 percent increase over 2019. These deaths have occurred at a time when fewer cars were on the road due to the pandemic and City traffic data showed cars were driving 8-10 percent faster on average than at the same time in the previous year.

The goal is not to issue tickets, but to encourage safer driving behavior and discourage speeding that is correlated with more severe injuries and deaths in traffic crashes. In order to avoid a speeding violation, drivers simply have to observe the speed limit.

Even incremental reductions in speed greatly increase the likelihood of avoiding death or serious injury in the event of a crash. According to federal traffic safety data, chances of a pedestrian surviving being struck by a car are 90 percent if hit by a car traveling 20 MPH, 50 percent chance of surviving if hit by a car driving 30 MPH and only a 10 percent chance of surviving being struck by a car driving 40 MPH.”

We’ve covered alternative solutions to maximizing pedestrian safety in the past and, even though speeding does increase the risk of fatally injuring someone, there are plenty of other issues to consider. It’s usually just safer to keep those walking (or on bicycles) a healthy distance away from automobiles. Other solutions include improving pedestrian detection equipment on modern vehicles, limiting the number of distractions, discouraging jaywalking, and making sure you’re not hitting people with 2-ton SUVs with blunt faces. But let’s not kid ourselves, Mayor Lightfoot’s plan was always about the money and it seems like everyone has already figured that out.

Ed. note: As a Chicago resident who has long been outraged about the speed camera on Irving Park between Clark and Sheridan — one that is barely within the required distance of a park, a dog park that’s far off the street — I would like to add that I really, really hope the mayor’s office rethinks any expansion. The cameras are not, in my opinion, in any way used to increase safety. The unofficial city motto is “where’s mine?” and the cameras seem to be a complete money grab. I’ll save the rest of my thoughts for a potential future opinion/editorial post.

[Image: ChicagoPhotographer/Shutterstock]

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