Report: Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Hasn’t Paid Speeding, Red Light Tickets

Report: Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Hasn’t Paid Speeding, Red Light Tickets

Laws for thee, not for me.

In June, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the police could only have a 6mph buffer before giving out speeding tickets.

It shocked Lightfoot that a City Council member would want the buffer to be 10mph:

“No one likes speed cameras. I get it,” Lightfoot said last month as the debate over returning the ticketing threshold to 10 mph raged. “But this is life or death that we’re talking about here, and we’ve got to step up as a city and address this.”

“It is unconscionable that any City Council member would consider voting to allow for increased speeds near spaces utilized by our children,” Lightfoot continued.

For the children, you guys. But also to get more money because Chicago is broke.

However, CWB Chicago’s investigation found that Lightfoot won’t pay for her tickets, including tickets she got in school zones:

But Lightfoot’s concern for the children seems to come and go. Two of the speed violations that we found against her SUVs occurred in school zones with “school child present,” according to the citations.

On November 5, one of Lightfoot’s SUVs received a warning for traveling through Washington Park at 39 mph. She was on her way to hold a press conference at, ironically, Comer Children’s Hospital.

The warning didn’t work. Her SUVs sped past the same location again on March 9, and the system sent out a $70 ticket. Status: unpaid.

“It makes no sense for us to increase the speed around the parks and schools when we know what the horrific consequences are for pedestrians and other drivers,” the mayor said last week.

A year ago, on July 30, one of Lightfoot’s SUVs zipped past Orr Academy High School at 43 mph. The speed camera ticket, now a whopping $244, is flagged as “school child present.”

One of her old SUVs whizzed by Jones College Prep at 39 mph in February 2020, also with a “school child present.” It’s the only violation we found that shows an SUV’s hidden police lights activated. A warning was issued.

Last October, one of Lightfoot’s SUVs took a leisurely left-hand turn through a red light at 800 North Sacramento. The city is still owed $244 for that ticket. There’s a “notice of seizure” out for the car, according to city records.

Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel had a habit of piling up speeding tickets. He paid them off once the public found out.

Lightfoot isn’t the only one who brushes aside speeding tickets:

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s official cars have also been caught in red light and speed camera violations. However, many of her tickets were unpaid until CWB reported on the problem. She said she would pay them. Instead, she fought them in court and had most of them dismissed.

Lightfoot’s office told CWB:

The Mayor’s Detail is responsible for the safety and security of Mayor Lightfoot. Members of the Mayor’s Detail are trained in a variety of safety and security techniques to keep the Mayor safe and that includes both vehicles staying in formation while en route. The Mayor has repeatedly stressed to the Detail traffic safety and that running red lights is never acceptable. Like with all citations incurred by City or other safety and security vehicles by other agencies, they go through an administrative process to review if City vehicles were in use for safety or security reasons and subsequently the Department of Finance will determine whether the party is responsible. Payment is not collected until that process is concluded. Individual members of the Mayor’s Detail are responsible for payment of tickets incurred while they are driving.

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