Increase while you can - limit the damage later

City counsel is considering a proposal to increase the fine for speeding and red light violations caught by traffic cameras within the city. Personal, political, and constitutional arguments aside, why would the city counsel be considering such a move at this time while a case is currently before the Ohio Supreme Court on the constitutionality of such tickets, and legislation has been proposed at the state level banning all such measures. Additionally, several cases from Toledo are currently being litigated on this issue, including, as the recent Blade article stated, one seeking class action status.


Why not wait. If the violations are ruled to be unconstitutional, or the legislation passes banning them, what benefit will the city have gained by this most recent move. The counsel may in fact have created a larger job for the law department in attempting to collect from the private company after the fact and defending the potential flood of lawsuits.



The facts about this enforcement method are sketchy at best. They have not been shown to reduce accidents. When a driver is approaching an intersection with a camera, it is unlikely they have the time or aforethought to consider the camera when making the decision to go through or aggressively apply their brakes. IF they do consider the camera, they are likely to stop more abruptly (or try to, often on wet/icy roads), potentially causing more accidents when the drivers behind them don't anticipate the quick stop. On a national level the cameras have been shown to be ineffective, and increase accidents.



I trust the science; the technology, delay in photo activation, and video replay systems in place are accurate. BUT, I don't agree with taking enforcement discretion out of the equation, removing the due process rights of: confrontation, presentation of evidence, and fair trial/hearing out of traffic enforcement for financial gain. But I digress.



My initial point is, once again the city is considering a counterproductive, potentially inefficient and costly move toward increased government control, the big brother state, and waisting its time and resources on measures that may be deemed illegal soon by our Supreme Court and Legislature.



Take a breath Carty, Chief Navarre and Counsel................lets see where the chips fall before we ante up more citizens freedom for the almighty dollar to a private Arizona company.



I guess I will add my pending red light ticket to the class action.



The A-Hole.