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Traffic cameras bring tiny Ohio village to a stop
Associated Press ^ | Jun. 29, 2013 12:50 PM EDT | Dan Sewell

Posted on 06/29/2013 2:44:33 PM PDT by Olog-hai

Each day, thousands of cars—sometimes as many as 18,000—rolled along Elmwood Place’s streets, crossing the third-of-a-mile town to get to neighboring Cincinnati or major employers in bustling suburbs or heavily traveled Interstate 75. Many zipped by Elmwood Place’s modest homes and small businesses at speeds well above the 25 mph limit. Bedeviled by tight budgets, the police force was undermanned. The situation, villagers feared, was dangerous.

Then the cameras were turned on, and all hell broke loose.

Like hundreds of other U.S. communities big and small, Elmwood Place hired an outside company to install cameras to record traffic violations and mail out citations.

In the first month after the cameras began operating, late last year, 6,600 tickets went out—more than triple the village’s population. Before some unsuspecting drivers realized it, they had racked up multiple $105 citations they would learn about when their mail arrived weeks later. …

(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: elmwoodplace; excessivefines; redlightcameras; traffictickets
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This story is dated June 29, but there was a similar story on June 7.
1 posted on 06/29/2013 2:44:33 PM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

This is so wrong. It’s bad enough these poor people have to go to Cincinnati in the first place.


2 posted on 06/29/2013 2:49:20 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: Olog-hai

LMAO Bite the locals in the ass did it? Greedy councilmen/women that voted for this, oh and they resigned? You get what you vote for and we got sh!t.

PS I didn’t vote for Zero or any other socialist, commie, fascist homo loving prick.


3 posted on 06/29/2013 2:54:24 PM PDT by 23 Everest (When seconds count. The police are just 23 minutes away. 831 Bonnie)
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To: Olog-hai

Po’ lil’ statists. Unintended consequences are real female canine, huh?


4 posted on 06/29/2013 2:54:24 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have IngSoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein)
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To: Olog-hai

Traffic cameras are ALWAYS about money. Any politician who says otherwise is a liar.


5 posted on 06/29/2013 2:57:08 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Inside every liberal and WOD defender is a totalitarian screaming to get out.)
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To: Olog-hai
Same sort of Revenue Enhancement occurred in Anchorage in 97, It was Mark Begich's baby, big idear and all. In no time at all people were shooting out the cameras with 22s in the early morning Alaska darkness. Became the new thing to do and got so bad the company from Arizona pulled all their cameras and forced Anchorage to pay a penalty to them, Mark got booted from politics, the state legislature passed a law saying no more traffic ticket cams anywheres in Alaska and now that Mark Begich recycled himself as a pro gunner democrat and is the senator; every time I call to yap, I remind them I remember photo radar and it was Mark's Big Idear. They always yell back that Mark has said all along photo radar was the only mistake he ever made in his entire life, ha ha.

Actually, I don't think Begich can get re-elected, Repubs outnumber the Dems up here and too many people figure Mark ain't as powerful as Donny Young, or as smart on his feet. Funny thing is if Begich would change party, he would get back in. Alaskans appreciate his votes against gun control & ole Big Ears. I guess I've seen dems in the lower 48 that are worse than Begich; and Repubs not any better.

6 posted on 06/29/2013 2:58:42 PM PDT by Eska
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To: Olog-hai

From the Article:

Bill Wilson, 43, is running for village council in the fall election. He returned to Elmwood Place after living in southwest Florida for 20 years; there, he said, red-light cameras, speeding cameras, accident cameras and crime security cameras are commonplace.

“You get accustomed to it,” Wilson said.

Yes,I suppose you do get used to living in a police state. I too lived in Florida for 25+ years. It was nice when I first arrived from the Midwest and by the time I left it was totally... I want to say trashed but that’s to strong a word. It was no longer the Florida I had gone to and learned to love.


7 posted on 06/29/2013 3:03:00 PM PDT by The Working Man
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To: The Working Man

Stay out of Washington DC, It’s full of the damned things.

Mayor Gray’s form of Commuter tax.


8 posted on 06/29/2013 3:16:19 PM PDT by Venturer
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To: Olog-hai
Relevant article:

Ohio House passes bill to ban red-light, speed cameras
9 posted on 06/29/2013 3:19:26 PM PDT by saltlick
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To: The Working Man

We have those here in Jersey it’s quite a controversey.
If you are ticketed there is no recourse you can go to court but it is a waste of time. You will pay. We have right turn on red, but you must stop for 4 seconds before making the turn.
This has made a lotta money as that is not in the driving manual! Running red lights I can see is very serious as I Know personal friends killed in accidents of this nature. The thing is they have shortened the yellow light to increase ticketing. It’s always a morning bitch on the local conservative talk radio station!
We too have business suffering because people will go out of their way to avoid the major streets with cameras


10 posted on 06/29/2013 3:26:10 PM PDT by Conserev1 ("Still Clinging to my Bible and my Weapon")
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To: The Working Man

Now hold up.

The had 20,000 speeders a MONTH through a school zone. One cop that couldn’t keep up with it.

The cameras have dropped the number of actual speeders through that same zone to a quarter of that.

The crybaby crap in this article is stupid.

These people are poor! They can’t afford these tickets!

Then stop freaking speeding! The sign says to go 25, you go 25 or less and you won’t get a ticket. How hard is that?

Sheesh!


11 posted on 06/29/2013 3:32:18 PM PDT by Marie ("The last time Democrats gloated this hard after a health care victory, they lost 60 House seats.")
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To: Olog-hai
Near the end they did have the latest where the city was still running the traffic cameras for "research purposes" after they had been ordered shut down, so the judge found the city in contempt of court and ordered the cameras physically impounded.

http://www.wlwt.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/judge-orders-elmwood-place-speed-cameras-confiscated/-/13550662/20737258/-/y6u110z/-/index.html

The whole village of New Rome, Ohio was dissolved when their speed trap court was taken away. Unfortunately the fun website www.newromesucks.com appears to be down, but the Wayback machine archive is still there.

12 posted on 06/29/2013 3:42:55 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (This message has been recorded but not approved by Obama's StasiNet. Read it at your peril.)
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To: Olog-hai

The politicians have far too much power.


13 posted on 06/29/2013 3:44:33 PM PDT by I want the USA back (If I Pi$$ed off just one liberal today my mission has been accomplished.)
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To: Marie
They don't always get the right vehicle.

My friend got a ticket in Chicago and he hasn't been there in 15 years. It wasn't his car. Wrong license plate.

Also, who is driving. My girlfriend's driven my car before and vice versa. If either one of us gets hit by a camera, the other could get the ticket.

As my friend with the ticket says, cars don't run red lights. Drivers do.

14 posted on 06/29/2013 3:50:03 PM PDT by Darren McCarty (Abortion - legalized murder for convenience)
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To: Marie

Bingo! It’s a simple solution—stop speeding. I despise red-light runners and a$$holes who speed through school zones. This ain’t rocket science!


15 posted on 06/29/2013 3:53:10 PM PDT by SgtHooper (The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.)
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To: Darren McCarty

Well Darren, make the speeding party pay!


16 posted on 06/29/2013 3:54:29 PM PDT by SgtHooper (The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.)
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To: Olog-hai

In Great Britain damage to traffic cameras became so common place many were never replaced.


17 posted on 06/29/2013 3:58:57 PM PDT by BluH2o
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To: SgtHooper
Well Darren, make the speeding party pay!

How about not being guilty till proven innocent and screwing up traffic records of people (Insurance driving points are different than state driving points). If you can't prove the driver, don't write the ticket.

18 posted on 06/29/2013 3:59:27 PM PDT by Darren McCarty (Abortion - legalized murder for convenience)
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To: Olog-hai

So, when is open season on traffic cams?


19 posted on 06/29/2013 4:07:28 PM PDT by mistfree (Their & There, they're not the same)
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To: BenLurkin
It’s bad enough these poor people have to go to Cincinnati in the first place.

Heh. Good one.

20 posted on 06/29/2013 5:30:26 PM PDT by BfloGuy (The imposition of a duty on the importation of a commodity burdens the consumers. --Ludwig Von Mises)
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