Speed cameras may be disappearing from a town near you thanks to a recent ruling from a Cincinnati judge who declared them to be invalid and unenforceable, as they violate the due process guarantees of motorists under the Ohio Constitution.
The cameras were initially installed in July in the small Cincinnati community of Elmwood for safety purposes to slow speeding drivers, but instead have managed to collect more than $1.5 million in fines. In addition, business has declined throughout the area as drivers want to avoid being ticketed.
Judge Robert Ruehlman concluded in his opinion that the speed cameras have more to do with generating revenue, as opposed to safety,” it is a scam the motorist cannot win.” Anyone who receives one of the $105 tickets has no room for arguing against the written report from the speed monitoring unit, particularly since its company receives 40 percent of the revenue from the cameras.
Speed cameras have caused a great deal of controversy across the state of Ohio and the attention they have created has now brought the issue before Ohio legislators. The legislation, HB 69, would prohibit speed cameras and other photo monitoring devices from being used by any city, county, township or Ohio State Highway Patrol.
In addition to Ohio, twelve other states and the District of Columbia currently use speed cameras. However, speed cameras have also become a point of contention in other states too. In Arizona, the cameras were banned altogether after it was decided that accidents were not being reduced. And in Baltimore, a speed camera clocked a stationary car for speeding while it was stopped at a red light.
From racking up huge sums of money to being fraught with errors, speed cameras are a hot topic. Do you think more speed cameras are necessary throughout town or do you think they’re an unnecessary inconvenience that does little to curb accidents and speeding motorists?
Pulled over for speeding? If you are in need of legal assistance, contact the Columbus criminal defense attorneys at Luftman, Heck & Associates today.