The use of red-light cameras is prohibited in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Voters in 2008 approved the ban by a 51% margin. That charter amendment also placed limitations on all traffic photo-monitoring devices, including speed cameras.
The prohibitions were put in place because voters and state lawmakers believed that the devices were nothing more than a money grab.
It was thought that local officials wanted to use the devices to fill budget gaps or to fund pet projects, not to save lives.
There was also concern about motorists in minority communities being inordinately targeted in jurisdictions where traffic cameras are in use.
PBS recently reported that tickets and fines generated by speed cameras in places like Chicago “fell disproportionately on Black and brown drivers.”
But some in Cincinnati are now looking to put the traffic-camera ban back on the ballot, thinking that they made a mistake the first time around. They want to repeal the prohibition.
They want to tamp down increasing pedestrian injuries and deaths. They want to make city streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
And, yes, they’ll certainly take all the revenue that will no doubt be generated.
Cincinnati in May unveiled a $1.59 billion city budget for the years 2024 and 2025 that included a projected deficit of around $10 million next year.
So lawmakers definitely need to increase revenue. And New York City motorists know that speed cameras in particular are a speedy way to do that.
Cincinnati would have some decisions to make if the devices are put into use. For example, will there be red-light cameras only or speed cameras as well?
If they look at the money generated by speed cameras in New York City and elsewhere, I think I can predict which way they’ll go.
Cincinnati will also have to figure out where to deploy the devices. Among the proposals on the table is, you guessed it, limiting the traffic cameras to school zones.
We all know how that’s worked out in New York City, where the speed…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply