LeClaire Raises Cover Charge Using Speed Cameras

It seems the city of LeClaire lately is doing everything it can to dissuade tourists from leaving with a favorable impression. First was last spring, and the noise ordinance that turned the motorcycling community on it's collective ear, and away from riding through town.

Now, according to an article on WQAD.com, the Police department there is considering installing some speed cameras on I-80 as you come into town. It's an advantageous location, with the speed limit in Illinois quickly changing as drivers approach and cross the Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge into Iowa.

Naturally, safety is the spin, and revenue is the reason buried in the lead. With the kind of cameras mentioned in the Ch. 8 post, tickets would automatically be issued to cars going faster than the speed set by the manufacturer on the cameras.

Two cameras are being considered, installed and maintained by a contractor who would split the revenues generated by the tickets. I find it ironic that the cameras would be mounted at the foot of a bridge named after an Iowa legislator who was both fiscally responsible, and pro-civil rights.

I don't know how much more revenue LeClaire needs in the coffers, but leaving visitors (Whose unfamiliarity with the cameras would make them most victimized) with an additional cost as they leave town, or weeks later in the mail, will certainly leave a bad taste in their mouth about LeClaire.