Senate vote could end traffic cameras in Ohio

Area traffic enforcement camerasJursdictionCameras2013 citations2013 RevenueDayton3770,600$1,789,876Trotwood1412,583$231,946Springfield176,091$271,942West Carrollton96,214$158,000Sources: Local jurisdictions

What do you think?

We asked readers on our Facebook page about their thoughts on redlight, speeding cameras. Here's some of there responses:

Dan Zink: Red light cameras are nothing but an income source for the government, they don't allow the accused to face their accuser, and they cause more accidents than they stop. Good riddance.

Darrell McKinney: It's unconstitutional … period.

Mary Cline Lucas: I am for them, police can not be everywhere all the time, just not possible and something needs to be done to slow down speeders and those that run red lights.

Wally Stiver: I'm not for them and I'm not against them but people who are against the red light cameras are the ones who are running the red lights.when I took drivers ed 33 years ago red meant stop.

Barry Takacss: They had less to do with public safety then they did revenue generation.

Karen Harris: The cameras are great tools. If you aren't doing anything wrong, you don't have to worry about them.

Ohio Senate vote on the red light camera ban bill

Yes: Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville; Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City; Dave Burke, R-Marysville; Bill Coley, R-West Chester; John Eklund, R-Chardon; Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green; Cliff Hite, R-Findlay; Jim Hughes, R-Columbus; Shannon Jones, R-Springboro; Kris Jordan, R-Powell; Eric Kearney, D-Cincinnati; Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering; Gayle Manning, R-N. Ridgeville; Larry Obhof, R-Medina; Scott Oelslager, R-Canton; Tom Patton, R-Strongsville; Bob Peterson, R-Sabina; Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster; Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati; Shirley Smith, D-Cleveland; Charleta Tavares, D-Columbus; Joe Uecker, R-Loveland; Chris Widener, R-Springfield; and Keith Faber, R-Celina

No: Kevin Bacon, R-Columbus; Edna Brown, D-Toledo; Capri Cafaro, D-Hubbard; Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville; Frank LaRose, R-Fairlawn; Tom Sawyer, D-Akron; Joe Schiavoni, D-Austintown; Mike Skindell, D-Lakewood; and Nina Turner, D-Cleveland

Source: Ohio Senate Clerk

Ohio Senate vote on the red light camera ban bill

Yes: Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville; Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City; Dave Burke, R-Marysville; Bill Coley, R-West Chester; John Eklund, R-Chardon; Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green; Cliff Hite, R-Findlay; Jim Hughes, R-Columbus; Shannon Jones, R-Springboro; Kris Jordan, R-Powell; Eric Kearney, D-Cincinnati; Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering; Gayle Manning, R-N. Ridgeville; Larry Obhof, R-Medina; Scott Oelslager, R-Canton; Tom Patton, R-Strongsville; Bob Peterson, R-Sabina; Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster; Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati; Shirley Smith, D-Cleveland; Charleta Tavares, D-Columbus; Joe Uecker, R-Loveland; Chris Widener, R-Springfield; and Keith Faber, R-Celina

No: Kevin Bacon, R-Columbus; Edna Brown, D-Toledo; Capri Cafaro, D-Hubbard; Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville; Frank LaRose, R-Fairlawn; Tom Sawyer, D-Akron; Joe Schiavoni, D-Austintown; Mike Skindell, D-Lakewood; and Nina Turner, D-Cleveland

Source: Ohio Senate Clerk

Ohio moved a step closer to effectively shutting down traffic cameras that automatically spit out tickets to red light runners and speeders in a move that is angering officials for local governments that rely on the millions of dollars in revenue those tickets bring.

The Ohio Senate on Wednesday voted 24-9 in favor of a bill that would require local governments to station a police officer anywhere a red light or speed camera is operating. Officials say such a provision would have the same effect as a ban on camera use.

“It would cost the city more money than it would actually bring in,” said Trotwood police Capt. John Porter. “In order to man these cameras 24/7 – which is the way they operate right now to monitor those types of offenses – it’s just not a practical use of an officer.”

Supporters say the cameras are effective at reducing speeding, crashes and traffic fatalities. Opponents call them modern-day speed traps that cities use to churn up cash and unfairly ticket motorists who are turning right on red where it is permitted.

"Motorists, to no one's great surprise, have concluded that these things are noxious and should be sharply regulated," said state Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, who sponsored the bill.

“The all-seeing eye of big brother in the camera determines with NFL instant replay accuracy that you did not come to a full and complete stop. And therefore here is your $100 ticket for having violated our ordinance.”

Traffic enforcement cameras, first introduced to Ohio 10 years ago, are now used in more than 250 locations across the state.

Seitz noted that once cameras go up, they are rarely taken down, even if an intersection’s safety improves. “It’s all about the money,” he said.

The cameras have also brought legal challenges. A case pending before the Ohio Supreme Court contests the cameras’ constitutionality because the tickets are processed through an administrative process, not in municipal courts. Opponents say the procedure deprives motorists of due process.

Posting police officers at the camera sites 24/7 would cost local governments more than $77 million, including $12.2 million a year in Dayton alone, according to the Traffic Safety Coalition, which includes groups opposed to eliminating the cameras. The Ohio Municipal League, the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, victims’ advocates and local elected leaders are among those who lined up against the bill.

Loss of traffic enforcement camera fines alone could cost Dayton between $1.4 and $1.5 million annually, according to Toni Bankston, Dayton spokeswoman. Officials say a revenue loss would compound a financial shortfall for the city already set to dip into its cash reserves in 2015 for another $2.5 million.

“We are in the middle of our budget process and are evaluating it,” Dayton Deputy City Manager Stanley Earley said. The money Dayton receives through fines from the Redflex Traffic Systems units equates to about 1 percent of the city’s revenue, he said.

Springfield City Manager Jim Bodenmiller said the legislation would effectively end a program that nets Springfield $250,000 annually and has proven to improve safety.

In 2007, 90 crashes occurred at the city’s 10 intersections with red light cameras, according to statistics provided by the city. In 2012, the number dropped to 48 crashes, or a 47 percent reduction.

Citizens who oppose the cameras are louder than the people who support the programs, said Springfield Mayor Warren Copeland.

“You can give (state legislators) all the data you want to, but they think it’s politically popular,” Copeland said.

Trotwood budgeted conservatively for 2015 camera revenue, anticipating a possible change in the law, said Porter. The city budgeted for $115,000 in ticket revenue next year after receiving just under $205,000 in 2013.

“We’re really not sure how this is going to play out towards the end of this year,” said Porter, who maintains the city has seen a 30 to 40 percent reduction in accidents in the nine years the cameras have been in use.

In addition to stationing officers when the cameras are operating, Seitz’s bill would require:

The bill would also specify that points can’t be added to a driver’s record for a traffic camera ticket, and give ticketed drivers options to contest the citations.

Seitz’s bill is the latest round in attempts by lawmakers to do away with or curtail the use of red light cameras since 2006. On his way out of office in January 2007, then Gov. Bob Taft vetoed a camera ban bill, saying it pre-empted local control.

Two weeks ago, 77 percent of voters in Cleveland and Maple Heights said no to red light cameras. But officials in other cities say the cameras have helped them deal with reduced resources due to budget cuts.

West Carrollton Police Chief Doug Woodard said that’s why his city voted to have the cameras in the first place. West Carrollton received $158,000 in fines from its nine cameras in 2013.

The bill now goes to the Ohio House, which passed a similar measure in June 2013.

Staff writer Michael Cooper contributed to this report.