Speed cameras could blanket nearly half of Chicago: Emanuel gets legislative backing on plan to flag fast drivers for $100 tickets

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Nearly half the city would fall into so-called safety zones where speed cameras sought by Mayor Rahm Emanuel could flag fast drivers for $100 tickets, according to a Tribune analysis of camera legislation in Springfield.

Emanuel has framed his plan in narrow terms, pitching it as a way to leverage technology to better protect children near schools and parks. But bills introduced at the mayor's behest and being weighed this week by lawmakers would give him authority to use automated devices to nab speeders across a broad swath of city streets.

This is what statist NYT columnist Thomas Friedman calls "A Progressive in the Age of Austerity".