Speeding, Reckless Driving & Expressway Fatalities In The Chicagoland Area During The Pandemic.... [View all]

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Some friends and I in a Zoom Mtging were discussing the recent news reports about Chicago expressway fatalities.

It has been noticeable to all of us that there are less cars on the roads during the pandemic and many of drivers of those cars on the roads are driving recklessly and speeding more than usual.

All of us came to the same conclusion and that is that there are very few police patrolling the expressways and that the lack of police presence has embolden drivers to speed because they know that they won't be pulled over.

In discussing the lack of police presence on the expressways we also surmised that this might be a direct result of the pandemic and that police do not want to pull anyone over for fear of catching Covid from those in the cars that they pull over. Even if they wear a mask - there's no guarantee that the person that they pull over is wearing a mask and it is difficult to social distance in the process of giving a ticket.

I'm just curious now if we may have hit on something here.

Are any of you DU'ers police or do you know someone that is a policeman? Have you heard police comment that they might be avoiding pulling people over for fear of contracting Covid?

I believe that this is not just a problem in the Chicago area - but country wide.

Any and all comments are welcome. How do we remedy this situation?