A deeply divided Ohio House of Representatives on Thursday passed sweeping legislation that would impose new penalties on motorists, including a statewide speed camera program. State Representative Peter S. Ujvagi (D-Toledo) inserted the controversial proposals into a “must pass” $7.6B transportation funding measure to avoid individual discussion of the merits of the many programs rolled into the 361-page bill. Only one Republican voted in favor of Ujvagi’s plan, which passed by a margin of 53-45.
The bill would make it allowable for a law enforcement officer to stop a motorist who either forgets to wear a seatbelt or chooses not to do so, even if he has committed no other offense. The plan would make it easier for police to issue seatbelt tickets which, in other states, have become a significant source of revenue. In addition to raising a number of motoring fees, Ujvagi envisions a statewide freeway speed camera program as a secondary means of increasing the state’s ability to spend.
The program allows the state to lower the speed limit in “construction zones” on freeways so long as there is one designated worker present. A private, for-profit company will station speed camera vehicles in these zones to photograph motorists and generate a $250 ticket—plus an unspecified fee—mailed up to ninety days after the alleged offense took place.
The recipient of this ticket will be presumed guilty unless he can prove to the Department of Public Safety in a “nonjudicial, administrative hearing” that he is innocent using evidence that the agency considers “reliable and credible.” From each ticket, the state will pay $125 to the city or county in whose jurisdiction the alleged offense took place. Another $12.50 will go to a state trauma fund. The remainder will be split between the state and the private vendor in charge of ticketing. Anyone failing to pay the fee will have his license suspended, or, in the case of out-of-state drivers, be banned from operating a motor vehicle in Ohio.
The state of Illinois was the first to deploy photo radar on freeways in May 2006 with the claim that the program would save the lives of highway workers. A number of studies suggest that only 15 percent of freeway construction zone injuries are caused by automobiles. A far greater number of workers are injured by their own construction equipment.
Ah yes, our duly elected representatives voted in to carry out the will of the people.
When will people step up to stop all these earmarks? This causes so much crap to pass.
F*** OHIO Politicians!!!!
Ahhh road side cash registers…
With any luck this will destroy Ohio tourism– and benefit Michigan’s. Doubtless Ohioans will re-elect those avaricious vipers since they were blind enough to elect them in the first place.
Jeez, as if Ohio’s finest needed any more help raising money from tickets. That’s the only time I’ve been stopped where the state trooper had a credit card machine in his cruiser. That’s really true – I don’t know if it’s common elsewhere, but it surprised the hell out of me.
I got pulled one Christmas eve as I was driving from Michigan to NC, and found out the hard way that Ohio doesn’t have a reciprocal agreement with Michigan. If you get a ticket, you have to pay right then. That’s how I found out about the credit card machine in the cop car. There’s no clearer illustration of the reason for those troopers than that little machine. It’s all about the revenue.
So I hold a grudge against Ohio, and will not willingly go to that state ever again. The way they handled extracting money from me that day means that I will never spend another penny in that state ever again. I’d like to go to Cedar Point and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, (although honestly there’s nothing else I can think of there worth seeing) and would have put much more money into Ohio’s economy than the $250 or so the ticket yielded.
If you live there, I pity you. If you don’t, here’s a good reason never to go. Take a minute and let the Ohio Division of Travel and Tourism know office know: http://www.discoverohio.com
Watch the goverment run our country into the ground, just like the management at GM.
Goverment motto: “There’s a taxpayer born every minute”…
ScottMcG, you speak the truth.
Many Michiganders (myself and my Dad included) will not spend a PENNY in the State of Ohio, and haven’t for years. All due to their (incredibly) overzealous thievery traffic enforcement.
Gas up in Michigan first, or on the way home, in the preceding state. Same with hotel/motel rooms. The only thing the State of Ohio has gotten from me in years is my piss, which is just what it deserves.
I’ve lived my entire adult life in Ohio. Their rapacious attitude towards freeway revenue has a couple of consequences:
0. It creates a “Dosadi Experiment”* situation where Ohio speeders become very, very adept at evading police detection.
1. It significantly increases the incentive to flee and elude. I don’t know any Ohio “automotive enthusiast” who hasn’t deliberately evaded pursuit a few times.
The annoying part about that seatbelt business is that, when the law was passed, lawmakers swore that it would never become a “primary offense”. This promise is now exposed to be fraudulent.
For what it’s worth, Ohio has hundreds of miles of more or less permanent construction areas. 270 in Columbus has been “under construction” since the Eighties. What a crock.
* The Dosadi Experiment was an early Herbert novel in which terrible pressures were put on a captive population in order to breed politically adept sentient beings.
Come on guys; what are you getting mad at the politicians for? They’re only doing what the people of Ohio elected them to do.
Ohio voted for this. Ohio continues to vote for this with every election.
That’s all the evidence you need. Oh sure, we’ll take a checkpoint during the next election, but I suspect this will not change. You see, I lived in Ohio for a time. Like the rest of the nation, Ohio’s politicians are pretty much doing just what the electorate wants.
Getting mad and “tsk-tsk”ing the politicians will NOT change what the voters want.
If traveling through Ohio and time allows, stop a couple or more times at motels, restaurants, etc. and inform the manager you would have spent money there except for the highway speed cameras being present, requiring you to boycott doing business in that state.
Get enough folks doing that and wait for the yelps of outrage from firms to fill the ears of the so-called representatives of Ohio’s citizenry within the hallowed halls of the state’s legislative branch.
Oh shit.
Perhaps this was meant to be. Canton, the nearest large city to my home is about to NOT install traffic enforcement cameras. I was all geared up to fight them and start a petition to get the issue put on the ballot, and people would have voted it down.
Apparently though, 7 of the 12 members of City Council seem to be backing down from their “yes” votes on installing the Redflex systems. Because of the uproar (some of it instigated by yours truly) about the flaws in the system, and Redflex’s lies. City Council members’ phones have been ringing off the hook with people who are angry and anti-camera. Plus it’s an election year, heh.
Anyway, like I said, perhaps this was meant to be, because I will be contacting the Cincinnati, Toledo, Chillicothe, and other Chapters of Anti-Red-Light and Anti Photo Speed Enforcement Camera groups on Monday, as well as the Ohio Republican Party, the Green Party, Various Business groups, and the NAACP as well as the ACLU to see about starting a state-wide petition to shit in these bastards’ cereal and outlaw the damned things in the State of Ohio.
I don’t care if I’m not the “head honcho.” I don’t care about being famous and don’t give a shit if I’m the boss of the efforts or anything else, in fact, I probably couldn’t effectively run such an effort. But I can pound pavement, I’m somewhat well-spoken, and these systems are fucking evil, so I doubt we’ll have a problem collecting enough signatures and pissing on these politicians’ wet dreams of endless streams of revenue from drivers.
ahaha re: obesity and the posing
Yes, continue trusting the technologies like ‘photo radar’ for fast revenue. This is the worst type of forward-thinking, when it comes from these middle-manager politicians looking to make money on some new installation after meeting with the bidders and contractors.
Jack: haven’t seen a list start at 0 in a while. Evading pursuit?
OMG, drivers will have to slow down in construction zones and wear their seatbelts! What a f’ing nightmare. (Read in your best Marisa Tomei voice)
Great, you sell your car in Ohio and get $2400 fines from the buyer’s tickets before he transfers the title. You can start getting the fines up to three months after you sold the vehicle.
On a more positive note, you can feel good about it because more than $60 of that will help pay for construction workers running over each other which also has nothing to do with you. Aren’t you glad you’re rich!
Yeah, I pointed out the 15% figure during a redlight camera hearing in Pickerington. And then did some math of my own to arrive at the “fact” that costs ESCALATE at intersections that install them. This lead to the conclusion that the city could be liable if they install a device that knowingly causes accidents rates to go up, and that it only takes one lawsuit to wipe out all the gains..etc.
“the private vendor in charge of ticketing” gets a cut of the fine money. ????? Mercinary law enforcement for profit is bullshit.
A few years back I had to deal with a private business here in Colorado whose job it was to harass me to substantiate my auto insurance to them and the DMV. This, after years of this particular insurance practice being implimented
(dropping insurance on a mothballed seasonal vehicle for six months here in the snowbelt). Upon reflection, it became obvious. This is Right Wing governing philosophy in action.
The “free market” has no business doing law enforcement. Putting the profit motive into law enforcement makes injustice a certainty.
@SexCpotatoes – good on ya!
This is Right Wing governing philosophy in action. The “free market” has no business doing law enforcement. Putting the profit motive into law enforcement makes injustice a certainty.
I don’t see how it depends on privatization at all. The profit motive is there whether it’s contracted out or not. Plenty of places, including Ohio, have used speeding tickets as pure governmental revenue collection and profit without one lick of private involvement for years. The motive for states and locales to get free money (particularly from outsiders) has always been strong.
Red light tickets or ridiculous speeding tickets handed out by the police, it makes no difference to me whether it’s contracted out or not, it’s still a travesty.
Anyone know what the cut-off for speed cameras are? How far over do you need to be going before you’re ticketed? Dependent on flow of traffic?
I like how the burden of proof is on you, rather than the law like every other offense. How can it be considered constitutional to mail a ticket to the person who owns the car and then require them to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were not the one’s driving, if that’s the case?
I’m fortunate to live in a state where our legislature has banned camera-based traffic enforcement. As for other states, like Ohio and Illinois, that have embraced the concept of revenue generation-by-candid camera, any interstate travel I have to make I will do my best to avoid these states altogether. Screw these d-head politicians and their assault on our individual liberties. They won’t get any of my “revenue”, period!
I live in Ohio, have all my life, and I’m proud to say I do.
I’ve never heard such nonsense that just because a state is strict on ENFORCING THE LAW, AKA SPEED LIMITS AND SEAT BELT, people arent going to visit the state or spend money there. Thats the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I would still visit a state and spend money there even if I were to recieve the most ridiculous ticket ever. To miss out on what any state in America offers, or any place in the world for that matter, just because of the law enforcement is ridiculous.
Ohio has had seatbelt laws for as long as I can remember, “Click-It or Ticket” and I fully agree that people should slow down on any road, especially in construction. I like going fast as much as anyone else, but its just plain wreckless to do so in a construction zone. Plus it saves gas.
@unseensightz:
As a fellow Ohio resident, what percentage of the time would you say that you see actual work being done in a construction zone?
My estimate: 20%, tops.
Hell, we’re already doing 45mph parades through unattended orange-barrel chicanes all the friggin’ time. How much worse does it have to get before the revolution starts?
Here’s the real deal:
The Ohio Highway Patrol knows they can’t effectively ticket people in construction zones. It’s too tough to pull out after the “speeder” in single-file traffic, it’s too tough to catch ’em afterwards, and it’s too tough to return to the zone. So they don’t bother. So they’re using machines to ticket where “one designated worker” is present. Guess what? You can pay somebody $30/hour to sit in their car and read Hustler in that zone and ticket All. The. Time.
As a resident of Ohio, I have to say I agree with JackBaruth. The enforcement policies in my area have taught me exactly where law enforcement has ever patrolled or hidden in an effort to write me a ticket. In the same stretch of highway, it is possible for me to do triple digit speeds if there is light enough traffic, but a mile later I have to be dropped down to sixty.
Also, on the note about construction, I would have to say that I probably see workers in the zones less than 20% of the time. It actually surprises me when I do catch a worker out on the highway, just because its such a rare occurrence.
Money Money Money
This won’t become law in Ohio.
The Dems just took over the House in Ohio for the first time in about 10 years. However, the Republicans still have a strong majority in the Ohio Senate, and this bill is dead on arrival there.
Elections matter – our Democrat Ohio Governor has a budget that is so full of accounting tricks, one time usage of funds, and heavy reliance on Obama’s pork barrel stimulus plan that we are facing a large tax increase conveniently right after his re-election.
The Repubs are bad enough, but the Dems in Ohio politics are carbon copies of Obama’s mentality – tax a minority of people to buy the votes of others.
The Dems just took over the House in Ohio for the first time in about 10 years. However, the Republicans still have a strong majority in the Ohio Senate, and this bill is dead on arrival there.
I was reading the comments waiting for someone to point that out. I was going to encourage fellow Ohioans and outsiders to email or call our State Senators. Here is a list of them individually: http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/by_name.html
If anyone has a way of emailing them all of them at once, please post that link I’d like to use that!
@unseensightz:
The problem is not whether they are enforcing laws. The problem is making the decision that law enforcement should be a revenue stream. Once that policy is implemented, then the integrity of law enforcement is compromised. The police are compelled to go for maximum revenue instead of focusing on what’s actually best for the safety and well-being of the citizens they’re charged with protecting.
What Ohio is doing is inexcusable. They have made it very clear that law enforcement is primarily a way to pull more money into the state’s coffers. Think about how much more effective the police would be if they weren’t lying in wait for somebody going a little too fast and instead put their efforts into protecting the people who pay their salaries.
This is why I’m glad Michigan has language in its constitution that makes photo-radar ticketing banned.
When I drive to Atlanta from Michigan, its through Indiana.
Another good reason to fly over!
I never liked the idea of photograph enforcement. It is so easy for the government to photoshop your plate onto a picture of another vehicle like yours and then make your life a living hell. I sound like a conspiracy theorist, but it can happen. This would most likely happen at the local level especially where a person who stands up for his/her rights is a thorn in a local politicians side. I think that the police should have to pull you over in person in order to ticket you.
I cannot believe that voters would vote IN FAVOR of installing speeding cameras. I am from Arizona and these things are just there to rip people off and cause accidents. We have photo Highway cameras. street cameras, and ever Radar SUVs that park on the road and sometimes hide and they are just as bad. Ohio is a whack state anyway but I will laugh when these idiots who voted for the photo radar start getting tickets themselves.
@HGONZ: Nobody in Ohio voted for photo radar. They (and I mean they) voted for “change”.
Photo radar is coming in on Obama’s coattails.
I lived in Ohio, and still believe that there is no reason to live, or go, there.