Beach Park appears to be the proverbial tip of the spear on the anti-speeding front. The village wants lower speed limits on Sheridan Road.
Officials cite the injury of a 7-year-old boy and his dog killed after being hit by an SUV on Sheridan Road north of Chaney Avenue. Traffic crash investigators are determining if speed was a factor in that accident. Additionally, they say, from 2014 to 2020, 12 pedestrians and two bicyclists have been hit by vehicles on the state roadway.
There may be a case for lowering the speed limit through not only Beach Park, but also Waukegan north of Greenwood Avenue. Or perhaps installation of speed-ticket cameras, which have proliferated in Chicago.
Yet, the problem of motorists ignoring posted speeds isn’t limited to four-lane Sheridan Road, one of Lake County’s major north-south routes. It’s endemic in Lake County.
Speed limits aren’t to blame. Drivers are.
Make your way around the county on most days and you see drivers’ flagrant violations of speed limits — Racing, weaving in and out of traffic, along with distracted driving.
If you were on radar patrol, you’d be writing dozens of speeding tickets. Reports of crashes caused by aggressive drivers ignoring speed limits are found daily in The News-Sun.
During the first week of April, a North Chicago man died in an early-morning accident in Wadsworth. Another early-morning crash in Zion left an 18-year-old person dead and four others injured. A 77-year-old pedestrian was killed in North Chicago after being hit by a vehicle. Speed might have been involved in all the incidents.
Indeed, it’s a highway safety issue across the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The government agency said that in 2019, the last year with available figures, speeding was a factor in 26% of all traffic fatalities in which 9,478 drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists were killed.
Prior to that, federal data says for more than two decades, speeding has been involved in about a third of all motor vehicle fatalities. If it’s a nagging issue at the federal level, imagine what it is for local law enforcement and traffic officials.
Aggressive driving also increases chances of road-rage incidents, authorities are quick to point out. They’ll also tell you speeding increases the possibility of loss of vehicle control, increased stopping distances and a higher degree of severe crash injuries. Of course, you can save fuel by maintaining lower speed limits.
If you remember your driver’s ed classes — back when the subject was taught in high schools by teachers who doubled as football, shop and wrestling coaches — speed limits are there to protect all who use our highways, including those crossing them. You wouldn’t want 50 mph speed limits around schools, right?
Full disclosure: On occasion, I’ve been known to go five or so miles over the speed limit, mainly on interstates and Illinois tollways. Even with that speed, I’m usually the slowpoke.
According to the NHTSA, episodes of aggressive driving are becoming more frequent, and for many motorists speeding is becoming their usual driving behaviors. Federal officials lay the blame on disregard for the law and our fellow drivers.
In Lake County, more drivers are driving more miles on the same outdated roads. They seem to want to get where they’re going in a hurry more than before.
That seems to be the case on Sheridan Road, state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, said in an April 5 News-Sun story by Steve Sadin. She called Sheridan Road through Beach Park, a “drag way.”
“It’s a dangerous area where people go way too fast,” she added. As a state road, the Illinois Department of Transportation controls posting the speed limit, which area state and local officials want to see reduced to 30 from 40 mph.
Mayfield believes IDOT should move faster to lower the speed limit, “and make it a priority.” Waukegan and Beach Park officials agree with her assessment.
A lower speed limit on Sheridan Road may save someone’s life in the future. Speeding endangers everyone on the road and, as we’ve seen, can kill.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
Twitter: @sellenews
