Judge slams Ohio village's speed cameras

[jimmy olsen]

Probably going to be overturned on appeal.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/08/speed-camera-ruling/1974369/

Judge slams Ohio village's speed cameras

Kimball Perry, The Cincinnati Enquirer 8:58p.m. EST March 8, 2013
"It is a scam the motorist cannot win," the judge wrote in invalidating the ordinance.

ELMWOOD PLACE, Ohio — In a scathing ruling, a Hamilton County judge ruled that an ordinance allowing this village of 2,000 to install speed cameras is invalid and unenforceable.

Critics have said those cameras, which already have generated about $1.5 million in fines, have more to do with revenue enhancement than safety in this Cincinnati suburb nearly surrounded by the city.

"Elmwood Place is engaged in nothing more than a high-tech game of Three-card Monty," Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman wrote in his Thursday decision. "It is a scam the motorist cannot win."

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have speed cameras operating in at least one location, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Ohio has 13 other jurisdictions that use them, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says.

A dozen states have laws prohibiting them.

The village put the cameras in place in July to slow speeders — not to rake in revenue — officials there have said. About half of the fines go to the village as new revenue.

The village hired Maryland-based Optotraffic LLC to install the cameras and bill offenders, allowing the company to keep part of the fine money.

When motorists began receiving the $105 speeding tickets in the mail, they exploded in anger. Many have said they now go out of their way to avoid driving here, and many business owners say the cameras and the fallout are hurting business.

Many hired lawyer Mike Allen to fight the cameras.

"It is obvious that the village of Elmwood is motivated by financial considerations and not public safety," Allen said. "This is a victory for the common man and woman who does not have $105 to give to the village of Elmwood."

Allen added that Ruehlman's ruling could be the nation's first to address the specific constitutional challenge — whether a driver's due-process rights were violated.

"I think the preliminary injunction is pretty much the whole case," Allen said.

Village Solicitor Anita Vizedom couldn't be reached for comment.

The judge was particularly biting in writing his decision, blasting the village for taking from its residents instead of providing services to those who pay for them.

"The entire case against the motorist is stacked because the speed monitoring device is calibrated and controlled by Optotraffic," the judge wrote.

If motorists receiving tickets wanted to contest them, they had to request an administrative hearing that came with a $25 fee.

"The hearing is nothing more than a sham," the judge wrote.

While Ohio law allows such cameras, Allen argued successfully that the village didn't display the proper signage that must accompany them.

Allen expects Elmwood Place to appeal the judge's ruling.

[CountDeMoney]

Funny, there's been a major shitstorm here over speed cameras around the Baltimore area in the last several months.
Here's a link to the series of investigative articles for anybody interested:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/speedcameras/

[HVC]

Don't speed. Problem solved.

[Neil]

Don't speed. Problem solved.

Trashy people are in a hurry to go about their doomed little lives.

[CountDeMoney]

Don't speed. Problem solved.

If you check out the Sun's articles, you'll see that people are getting tagged for not speeding, as cameras are not calibrated correctly, a total lack of verification (city cops reviewing 1,200 photos an hour) and possessing an inaccuracy rate of well over 5%, to the point that the city is replacing all of them.   

Example:

City transportation officials were so worried four months ago about inaccurate speeding tickets coming from an automated camera on Cold Spring Lane that a supervisor ordered the problem fixed before it could "get out of hands," documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun show.

Yet the camera remained in operation, continuing to record erroneous citations. And it was only last month that the city said it was investigating the source of the errors.

Meanwhile, evidence emerged Tuesday of problems at another speed camera miles away. The Sun determined that a camera on Walther Avenue in Northeast Baltimore ticketed a Toyota sedan for traveling 56 mph, even though time-stamped photos and a measurement of the pavement show it was moving 34 mph, not fast enough to warrant a $40 ticket.

Just a big, big mess.

[HVC]

Vandalize cameras. Problem solved.

[alfred russel]

I don't like traffic cameras because sometimes I go fast and have a tendency to hit the accelerator rather than the break when I see a yellow light. But much of the rest of the world has deployed traffic cameras. Is US government uniquely incompetent in their deployment, or is there some other explanation that we can't move beyond cops with radar guns chasing speeders down?

[CountDeMoney]

Vandalize cameras. Problem solved.

They used to shoot at the "blue light" police surveillance cameras and trash them when they could, but when they learned they would keep getting replaced, they just sorta stopped. 

[HVC]

Vandalize cameras. Problem solved.

They used to shoot at the "blue light" police surveillance cameras and trash them when they could, but when they learned they would keep getting replaced, they just sorta stopped. 

Go cartoon style, put a picture of the empty road in front of it

[jimmy olsen]

I don't like traffic cameras because sometimes I go fast and have a tendency to hit the accelerator rather than the break when I see a yellow light. But much of the rest of the world has deployed traffic cameras. Is US government uniquely incompetent in their deployment, or is there some other explanation that we can't move beyond cops with radar guns chasing speeders down?

Those are likely national initiatives, while these are being done individually by town.

[CountDeMoney]

Is US government uniquely incompetent in their deployment, or is there some other explanation that we can't move beyond cops with radar guns chasing speeders down?

1) As per standard American government practice, the equipment isn't purchased and operated by the local government, but to a contractor;  and the contract goes to the lowest bidder who turns out to be the shittiest provider with the shittiest equipment.
2) Automation = increased revenue.
3) Removing cops with radar guns frees the cops up to do something else useless with their time.

[alfred russel]

Is US government uniquely incompetent in their deployment, or is there some other explanation that we can't move beyond cops with radar guns chasing speeders down?

1) As per standard American government practice, the equipment isn't purchased and operated by the local government, but to a contractor;  and the contract goes to the lowest bidder who turns out to be the shittiest provider with the shittiest equipment.
2) Automation = increased revenue.
3) Removing cops with radar guns frees the cops up to do something else useless with their time.

I'm with you. And also Tim. We would be better with more centralized government and less local government run by whatever sort of person gets elected to city council in Alabama. 

[Ed Anger]

Any idiot knows to SLOW THE FUCK DOWN in the village boonies.

lookup the new rome speed trap.

[mongers]

Any idiot knows to SLOW THE FUCK DOWN in the village boonies.

lookup the new rome speed trap.

Yeah, even I know that, cos every other comedy set in rural America has speed trap cops doing their thing.

edit:
Didn't Russ Meyer's 'Up' have that sort of scene ?

[11B4V]

Is US government uniquely incompetent in their deployment, or is there some other explanation that we can't move beyond cops with radar guns chasing speeders down?

1) As per standard American government practice, the equipment isn't purchased and operated by the local government, but to a contractor;  and the contract goes to the lowest bidder who turns out to be the shittiest provider with the shittiest equipment.
2) Automation = increased revenue.
3) Removing cops with radar guns frees the cops up to do something else useless with their time.