Ohio judge rules high-speed cameras in small town a ‘scam’

A Hamilton County, Ohio, judge has issued sharp condemnation of a high-speed camera ordinance, calling it unenforceable and invalid.

Cincinnati.com reports that Elmwood Place, a small community of about 2,000 located within the county, has collected more than $1.5 million in fines from the speeding cameras — and that’s only since July, when the ordinance to allow the cameras took effect. Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Ruehlman condemned the collections in his ruling, earlier this month.

“Elmwood Place is engaged in nothing more than a high-tech game of 3-card Monty,” he said, as Cincinnati.com reported.

The Cincinnati Enquirer said 13 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have high-speed cameras in operation. And Ohio has 13 jurisdictions that allow them.

But Elmwood Place won’t be one of them any longer.

“It is a scam the motorist cannot win,” the judge wrote, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

The village defense was that the cameras were for safety — to slow speeders — and not to rake in money. But about half of collections do go to village operations, The Cincinnati Enquirer said. And fines were substantial.

Speeders received tickets in the amount of $105, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. That’s when they hired an attorney to fight the system.

“It is obvious that the village of Elmwood is motivated by financial considerations and not public safety,” attorney Mike Allen said, in The Cincinnati Enquirer report. “This is a victory for the common man and woman who does not have $105 to give the village.”