Speeding ‘huge safety issue,’ says Dayton police chief

Red-light cameras may be upgraded to catch speeders

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer 12:12 AM Thursday, February 4, 2010

DAYTON — Police Chief Richard Biehl lobbied city commissioners on Wednesday, Feb. 3, for a change in city law to allow speeders to be ticketed through photo enforcement.

“Speed is a huge safety issue,” Biehl said. In the United States, red-light cameras are used in more than 400 communities, and speed cameras are used in about 40 jurisdictions, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports.

Sensors embedded in the road at Dayton’s 10 intersections with red-light cameras detect metal, axle to axle, determining a vehicle’s speed compared to the posted limit. Three images are taken of the rear of the vehicle in violation, including one of the license plate.

“Our cameras already give the speed. Our ordinance doesn’t allow us to enforce it,” Dayton police Detective Carol Johnson said.

The City Commission, in about two weeks, will vote on amending the ordinance to allow for photo enforcement. It will include a $25 late charge if the ticket isn’t paid in 15 days.

Biehl said officers often ticket motorists traveling 11 miles over the posted speed or if a driver exceeds a safe speed for road conditions. The speed threshold to trigger a camera ticket has not been set.

A 2008 study of the intersections where Dayton uses cameras detected 4,690 speed violations in five days. Of those, 66 percent were traveling 11 to 14 miles over the posted limit; 28 percent were driving 15 to 20 miles over the limit; and five percent exceeded the speed limit by more than 20 miles per hour, according to police data.

“I think that study did a good job of identifying speed is an issue at those intersections,” said Biehl, adding speed is a factor in about one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities. “Those are deaths that didn’t have to happen.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2362 or josmith@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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