Don't speed in the suburbs

For several months now, I've wanted to post about "hypermiling" on McCormick Boulevard in Lincolnwood and Skokie. That means coasting toward a red light in hopes that it will turn green before one need come to a stop. On McCormick, the lights are one-half mile apart. The light a half-mile ahead typically turns red just as traffic begins to move toward it from the previous intersection. Even though the speed limit is 40, the "light progression" speed is about 26. If one goes that speed, then one can proceed through the green light without waiting and wasting gasoline.

On Friday the 13th, I wasn't paying attention, and Officer Lincolnwood Speed Trap at McCormick and Albion clocked me doing 53 in a 40. I drive that stretch every day, and I still can't figure out how he was lying in wait. He was nice about me not having my insurance card; I explained that I had rented a vehicle earlier in the week and had not replaced my documents to the glove compartment like I should have. (That was true.) "Perfectly understandable," he said. He still gave me a $75 ticket. I thought I had a decent case. I was at the back of a convoy of vehicles. Did his radar gun say "Silver Honda Civic"? Of course not. It cannot identify which vehicle it is clocking. It only indicates a certain vehicle's rate of speed. Which vehicle? It's not certain. So I was going to ask the complaining officer about that at my trial. Since I was the last vehicle, I thought it was conceivable the lead vehicle was going 53, and I was going 38. I mailed my request for a trial the same day he gave me the ticket.

My court date was April 13, the day after Easter, and I prayed to G-d that the police officer would be on vacation. That's exactly what happened; he did not show up in court, and the judge dismissed my case as a result. One note: I obviously have not been to traffic court at the Skokie Courthouse in quite some time, thank G-d. (I took a traffic class instead of court in 2005 for 52 in a 30 in Arlington Heights.) In Skokie, if found guilty, the defendant must pay the ticket penalty ($75, or whatever the judge determines) plus $135 in court costs. So exercising one's constitutional right to a fair trial and the right to face one's accuser in a court of law can cost the losing defendant $135 on top of the ticket fee. So please, don't speed in the suburbs. It's just not worth it. Many times I've been tempted (and twice given in) to turning right on red from westbound Touhy to northbound McCormick. It's a stupid "No turn on red" with a clear view of northbound traffic. But it's not worth $210. Speeding on short trips only saves a few minutes; it's long-distance trips, like driving I-65 through Indiana, that speeding saves significant time. It's not a good reason to pay an optional tax and help Cook County keep its courthouses running. And another good reason: traffic court helps Cook County Board President Toddler Stroger's budget, too.