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Streetsblog Chicago didn’t endorse Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s new policy of lowering the speed camera ticketing threshold to 6 mph, due to the current financial hardships many residents are facing during the pandemic. However since the new rule is now in effect, we’re hoping there won’t be undue impacts on lower-income and working-class Chicagoans, and optimistic that we’ll see added safety benefits from the stricter enforcement. Unsurprisingly, the 6 mph regulation has triggered a new backlash from right-leaning outlets like the Chicago Tribune and the Illinois Policy website, which have implied that our city’s traffic camera program is simply a money grab with few safety benefits. But the fact remains that speed cameras are effective for preventing injuries and deaths, and fresh data from the Chicago Department of Transportation released this week reaffirmed that. ....