Ohio House passes bill to ban red-light, speed cameras
The Ohio House yesterday approved a bill to ban red-light and speed cameras over the objections of Columbus-area representatives and others who argued that the technology has reduced traffic accidents and saved lives.
“Motorists learn where these cameras are … and guess what? Driving habits change. They change for the better,” said Rep. Michael F. Curtin, D-Marble Cliff.
House Bill 69, approved 61-32 and sent to the Senate, would require Columbus and other municipalities to remove all law-enforcement cameras except mobile units in school zones during restricted hours, which would be permissible if a police officer is present.
During more than an hour of debate yesterday, supporters said some local officials have abused the cameras by overusing them to generate profits for local governments.
“The village of Elmwood (Place) issued 6,000 tickets in 30 days at $105 a pop ... with 40 percent of the revenue going to a company that is not located in Ohio,” said Rep. Alicia Reece, D-Cincinnati.
“Folks don’t even want to go to church because they don’t want to drive through the village.”
Lacking such controversy was legislation to crack down on sex trafficking. House Bill 130, which the House passed unanimously and sent to the Senate, would impose harsher penalties for solicitation of minors, increase the statute of limitations for human trafficking and criminalize sex-for-hire advertising.
“This is the human-rights issue of our lifetime,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, told her colleagues. “Thirty-two billion in revenues are generated a year in human trafficking. ... The seriousness and urgency of this problem compounds every day.”
Supporters of the proposed ban on law-enforcement cameras said the legislation would protect Ohio motorists from excessive fines.
“You are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. With red-light cameras, you are guilty until proven innocent. ... You are not able to face your accuser because your accuser is a machine,” said Rep. Ron Maag, R-Lebanon.
“Companies that run the cameras have incentive to write as many (tickets) as possible because they get a cut of the proceeds. They’ve taken law enforcement and rigged it for profits.”
Opponents argued that a complete ban of the cameras is an “overreaction,” and they called for regulating use to prevent abuses.
Curtin said concern about the misuse of new technologies in law enforcement is nothing new. He cited similar debates with the advent of fingerprinting, stun guns and DNA evidence.
“Where is the balance in this proposal? Where is the reason?” Curtin said. “Let’s weed out the bad apples. Columbus is not one of them.”
Rep. Kevin Boyce, a Columbus Democrat and former city councilman, said he shares concerns about due process and excessive fines, but “more important is the idea of saving a life.”
In Columbus, which has 38 cameras, officials reported a 74 percent drop in broadside crashes and a 25 percent decrease in rear-end collisions from 2008, when the first cameras were installed, to 2011.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where President Keith Faber, R-Celina, voted in favor of a similar bill a few years ago. “We’re starting to have discussion inside the caucus, but I can’t predict there are the votes to get it done,” Faber said.
Also yesterday, the majority Republicans rejected a Democratic effort to authorize a Medicaid expansion before legislators leave this week for summer recess. Democrats proposed adding the provision to an unrelated health-care bill, but Republicans quickly voted to table the amendment.
Source: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/06/26/House-passes-red-light-camera-ban.html
The Ohio House yesterday approved a bill to ban red-light and speed cameras over the objections of Columbus-area representatives and others who argued that the technology has reduced traffic accidents and saved lives.
“Motorists learn where these cameras are … and guess what? Driving habits change. They change for the better,” said Rep. Michael F. Curtin, D-Marble Cliff.
House Bill 69, approved 61-32 and sent to the Senate, would require Columbus and other municipalities to remove all law-enforcement cameras except mobile units in school zones during restricted hours, which would be permissible if a police officer is present.
During more than an hour of debate yesterday, supporters said some local officials have abused the cameras by overusing them to generate profits for local governments.
“The village of Elmwood (Place) issued 6,000 tickets in 30 days at $105 a pop ... with 40 percent of the revenue going to a company that is not located in Ohio,” said Rep. Alicia Reece, D-Cincinnati.
“Folks don’t even want to go to church because they don’t want to drive through the village.”
Lacking such controversy was legislation to crack down on sex trafficking. House Bill 130, which the House passed unanimously and sent to the Senate, would impose harsher penalties for solicitation of minors, increase the statute of limitations for human trafficking and criminalize sex-for-hire advertising.
“This is the human-rights issue of our lifetime,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, told her colleagues. “Thirty-two billion in revenues are generated a year in human trafficking. ... The seriousness and urgency of this problem compounds every day.”
Supporters of the proposed ban on law-enforcement cameras said the legislation would protect Ohio motorists from excessive fines.
“You are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. With red-light cameras, you are guilty until proven innocent. ... You are not able to face your accuser because your accuser is a machine,” said Rep. Ron Maag, R-Lebanon.
“Companies that run the cameras have incentive to write as many (tickets) as possible because they get a cut of the proceeds. They’ve taken law enforcement and rigged it for profits.”
Opponents argued that a complete ban of the cameras is an “overreaction,” and they called for regulating use to prevent abuses.
Curtin said concern about the misuse of new technologies in law enforcement is nothing new. He cited similar debates with the advent of fingerprinting, stun guns and DNA evidence.
“Where is the balance in this proposal? Where is the reason?” Curtin said. “Let’s weed out the bad apples. Columbus is not one of them.”
Rep. Kevin Boyce, a Columbus Democrat and former city councilman, said he shares concerns about due process and excessive fines, but “more important is the idea of saving a life.”
In Columbus, which has 38 cameras, officials reported a 74 percent drop in broadside crashes and a 25 percent decrease in rear-end collisions from 2008, when the first cameras were installed, to 2011.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where President Keith Faber, R-Celina, voted in favor of a similar bill a few years ago. “We’re starting to have discussion inside the caucus, but I can’t predict there are the votes to get it done,” Faber said.
Also yesterday, the majority Republicans rejected a Democratic effort to authorize a Medicaid expansion before legislators leave this week for summer recess. Democrats proposed adding the provision to an unrelated health-care bill, but Republicans quickly voted to table the amendment.
Source: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/06/26/House-passes-red-light-camera-ban.html