For the world’s once-prosperous oil companies, the recent dramatic drop in crude oil prices is resulting in billions of dollars of lost profit. And while it’s giving Americans a welcome respite at the gas pump, it could have more dire consequences for the people who depend on oil for a living.

According to a recent USA Today Money article, oil companies will be met with maturing debt throughout 2015 in addition to falling oil prices, which will only add onto their financial woes. And with these prices not expected to pick up anytime soon, oil companies are facing a bigger threat — the near-inevitability of bankruptcy.

Oil conglomerates like the nations of OPEC have refused to let up on production in order to intimidate U.S. oil companies into lowering their production — and U.S. companies haven’t backed down. This constant excess in production has also caused prices to fall, as demand fails to meet the amount of oil entering the market. In addition, growing government initiatives to push renewable, clean energy sources are making fossil fuels increasingly obsolete.

Bankruptcy filings in the U.S. typically manifest in either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcies, which both help individuals manage excess debts. However, for larger oil conglomerates, Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which reorganizes debts for companies and businesses, is likely the best option. In these bankruptcies, companies create a creditor-approved repayment plan that allows them to recover financially.

And because business-filed bankruptcies are generally very uncommon right now — these bankruptcies fell 23% in 2014 to their lowest frequency since 1980 — the rise in filings throughout the oil industry would be an interesting anomaly.

Already, the oil and gas industry stood out as the second-largest source of Chapter 11 bankruptcies last year, perhaps due to oil prices falling more than 40% in a six-month span, USA Today Money says. With reports of price drops continuing into January, the financial pressure is likely only going to get worse.

Chicago might soon be required to pay millions of dollars back to its drivers due to a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit stems from the issuance of tens (perhaps even hundreds) of thousands of traffic tickets to Chicago motorists on non-school days.

The lawsuit argues that City Hall is ignoring a state statute, which was put into place by the Illinois General Assembly before speed cameras were placed around parks and schools in the city. According to the Chicago Sun Times, the statute reads, “Violations shall be recorded, only on school days.”

The city’s first camera was installed at a school in November 2013. Now, there are more than 130 speed cameras and 51 safety zones near schools. These speed zones are intended to make the roadways more safe for children on foot.

In 2006, more than 60,000 pedestrians sustained injuries as a result of a traffic accident, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The problem is that the city has still been ticketing drivers when school is not in session.

The city issued more than 34,000 tickets during July and August 2014 alone, and continued to issue tickets through Thanksgiving break. Though the violations have not yet been posted on the city’s website, it is expected that drivers were also wrongfully ticketed during Christmas break.

“The city had no power under the state constitution to be enforcing those speed cameras during the times they were,” attorney Jacie Zolna told the Chicago Sun Times. “We’re asking the city to void all of those illegal tickets and warnings and refund the money.”

The lawsuit has not yet been granted class-action status, and the mayor’s administration is looking to get the case thrown out; however, this isn’t the first case in which millions of dollars in tickets have been forgiven to drivers — for exactly the same reason.

Faulty cameras in Nassau County ticketed drivers on days that school was not in session and subsequently forgave more than $2.4 million in August 2014. According to NBC 4 New York, the camera system has since been dismantled.