[Dewey-Darrow] Fw: Press Release: City Increases Penalties for Speeding in School Safety Zones

[Mary Jo Wisniewski]

--- On Wed, 1/27/10, City of Evanston <epalmer at cityofevanston.org> wrote:


From: City of Evanston <epalmer at cityofevanston.org>
Subject: Press Release: City Increases Penalties for Speeding in School Safety Zones
To: "Mary Wisniewski" <jowiz at sbcglobal.net>
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 4:04 PM






















FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 2010
Contact:   Eric Palmer
Phone:     847/448-8085







City Increases Penalties for Speeding in School Safety Zones 
EVANSTON, IL - The Evanston City Council unanimously passed an ordinance this week that would increase the fine for speeding in a school speed zone from $150 to $500. The ordinance was proposed by Alderman Donald Wilson (4th Ward) and will take effect February 26, 2010.
“My hope is that we will be able to reduce the number of violations in our school zones,” explained Alderman Wilson. “The goal is not to collect more money, but rather to raise awareness and get drivers to slow down and improve their attention when driving in Evanston.” 
The new ordinance sets the minimum fine at $500, plus a $50 penalty paid to the school district.  Prior to this ordinance, such violations had been handled under state law (625 ILCS 5/11-605), which provides for a minimum fine of $150 with an additional $50 penalty paid to the school district and court costs.
 
The new ordinance, like the state statute, requires drivers to slow to 20 mph between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. in posted school zones on school days when children are present outside the school building.
 
The new ordinance means that the Evanston Police Department issues tickets under the new ordinance rather than state law. The cases would then initially be heard in the City's Administrative Hearings Division rather than in the Skokie Municipal District 2 courthouse.
“Community safety is a priority and these types of ordinances like this one and the upcoming cell phone usage while driving ordinance reflect this priority,” added Wilson.
The purpose of a school speed zone is to reduce the speeds of vehicular traffic so that a driver has more time to recognize and react to a schoolchild within the travel way, allowing enough distance to slow, evade and/or stop prior to an incident. The zones also allow schoolchildren, especially young schoolchildren, to more accurately anticipate vehicular movements in order to safely cross the roadway.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, a vehicle-pedestrian crash will be much less severe at a reduced speed as evidenced by the following statistics:
 



City of Evanston, 2100 Ridge Ave., Evanston, IL 60201.    To unsubscribe from this list send a blank email to leave-58129-47965.f47f3c61cbc520a9617c6377ce8ea77b at mail.cityofevanston.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dredel.com/pipermail/dewey-darrow/attachments/20100127/df2b0d79/attachment.htm>