Residents flocking to OTB

I knew it was coming to this.

More and more Buffalo Grove residents are turning to OTB.

Which despite what you may think, with all of the bantering about the problems, residents have decided that OTB is worth it.

So there.

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, the suburban communities that nab people speeding are (drum roll, please):  Bull Valley, Park City, Carol Stream, McCook and Evergreen Park.

Disheartening as it may be, Buffalo Grove was not among the leaders in nailing lead-footers.

There is some good news, however, the Tribune did cite Buffalo Grove for 115 speeding tickets, so all is not lost.

The fact that the village is not among the elite – and who ever thought Park City would be considered elite – could be of some concern.  Maybe.  I used to think that the village reaped in tons of cash from stopping folks for exceeding the speed limit.  After making a contribution to the Buffalo Grove Benevolent Speeding Society myself, I checked into where the money goes and quickly found that a good chunk of it goes to the County, the Courts and, when all is said and done, the Village.

So what’s the reason for the slow down?  Let’s blame the economy because when all else fails, it’s the easiest scapegoat around.  The Trib report did not conclusively specific why some villages are tougher than others – although Bull Run has a number of good hiding places.  I think the reason speeding tickets are down is because so many people are yapping on their cell phones that they actually slow down.  It might be interesting to see how the number of tickets have been issued for improper lane usage have been issued. 

I still think the real cause is OTB – more and more people are embracing the concept of OTB simply because it’s an easy and mindless way to avoid hassles.  OTB has been talked about but no one has been able to quantify its impact.

It is clear, however, that OTB has made a difference in the lives of motorists going through the village.  Unfortunately, it appears cynics are right – OTB has not had a positive impact on the village finances. If anything, we have seen the opposite – OTB has resulted in a decline of village revenues.

So in the sake of safety, more and more residents need to embrace OTB so we can once and for all end the debate.

Why?  Because when it comes to driving, OTB makes sense.

OTB – On the Brake.