On July 26, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld Dayton’s use of traffic camera enforcement. Additionally, the Court struck down restrictions on the use of the traffic camera enforcement, including the requirement of a police officer to be present when a traffic camera was in use.
Dayton challenged the provisions in a state law that came into effect in 2015. The city stated that the provisions prevented Dayton and other cities from being able to reduce dangerous traffic violations, including speeding and running red lights. Dayton also argued that the provisions improperly undercut camera enforcement, prevented traffic cameras to be cost-effective and improperly limited the cities’ local control.
Ultimately, the court determined in a 5-2 ruling that the requirement for an officer to always be present when a traffic camera was in use was illegal. Other restrictions that were found to be illegal included the need for a lengthy safety study and a public campaign before the cameras were used and that a person could only be ticketed if he or she went over the posted speed limit by a specific amount.
Ohio has a lengthy history of using traffic cameras to catch violations. Dayton and other cities, for example, has been using them for more than a decade. Critics argue that the use of these cameras allow for the city to boost revenues while violating motorists’ rights. Further, a traffic ticket could have an impact on the motorist, including a high fine, court costs and increased auto insurance premiums. If a motorist believes that his or her rights were violated after being ticketed for allegedly speeding or for other alleged traffic violations, an attorney could fight the ticket and the associated legal consequences.
Source: Herald-Star, “Ohio justices remove regs on traffic camera use“, Dan Sewell, July 27, 2017
