ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6(a); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to its home rule power, the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to its government and affairs including the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, distracted driving, specifically the use of mobile devices while driving, is a proven and lethal threat to public safety; and
WHEREAS, the Highway Traffic Safety Administration acknowledges that distracted driving is an epidemic; and
WHEREAS, affected are some of our youngest drivers, with teen drivers widely admitting to texting and driving, even while aware of the risks, and this behavior is now the leading cause of death for teenage drivers; and
WHEREAS, also affected are pedestrians, with the Governors Highway Safety Association projecting an 11% increase in pedestrians killed in 2016 compared to 2015 due to mobile device distractions; and
WHEREAS, City law enforcement officials should be able to draw upon available technology to aid in their efforts to curb this danger; and
WHEREAS, the City has already deployed an automated traffic law enforcement system to curb red light and speeding infractions; and
WHEREAS, distracted driving falls in line with the behavior that the efficacy of automated traffic law enforcement systems seek to curb; NOW THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
SECTION 1. The above recitals are expressly incorporated herein and made part hereof as though fully set forth herein.
SECTION 2. Chapter 9-102 of the Municipal Code of Chicago is hereby amended by adding underscored language as follows:
9-102-010 Purpose - Establishment of automated traffic law enforcement system.
/Omitted text is unaffected by this ordinance.]
(b) The system shall utilize a traffic control signal monitoring device which records, th...
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