Posted on 11/13/2008 7:55:03 AM PST by TornadoAlley3
Voters in Toledo and Chillicothe, Ohio now want the chance to ban red light cameras.
Following this week's successful voter referendum banning photo enforcement in Cincinnati, residents in two more Ohio cities are looking to oust red light cameras and speed cameras. The sponsors of the Cincinnati initiativeare now exploring the possibility of putting ticket cameras on the ballot in Toledo. In Chillicothe, more than 17 percent of the city's 13,000 registered voters has already signed a growing online petition demanding camera removal (view petition).
"The undersigned will take action to elect new city council members therefore removing all those responsible for this unconstitutional act unless the said members make motion to remove and terminate this contract the city signed with Redflex Traffic Systems immediately," the petition states.
The possible consequences of the revolt were not lost on city leaders who are expected to discuss the issue at an upcoming city council meeting. One of the camera system's main supporters, however, blamed residents for the program.
"Sadly, the majority who oppose council actions don't speak until after the ordinance has passed," Council President Bob Shoultz wrote to the Chillicothe Gazette. "Council has always wanted to hear from citizens and know their view on all the issues they consider before the final vote. Yet that rarely seems to happen."
Citizens Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) is the group that teamed up with the Cincinnati branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to secure 14,015 signatures to put the camera ban on Cincinnati ballot. The same groups now want Toledo voters to have their say with a referendum that would be placed on the November 2009 ballot. Toledo has used photo ticketing since 2001, generating millions in revenue.
Hey, ho, way to go Ohio....
Now if we could just get it on a nationwide vote.
On a related note, this guy is my hero:
http://arbroath.blogspot.com/2008/10/german-police-seek-speeding-british.html
I always liked the dirty pickup approach. Hey, I just got off work and the site is muddy. Sorry you can’t read the plate.
Because you DON'T LISTEN!!! How many times do people show up to speak out against a zoninig decision or the like only to be disregarded? Screw'm all!!!
I love the direct vote process. But if the people in Ohio drive like the idiots we get here every season from Ohio I think I would have voted NO.
Do people in Ohio have to take a driving test?
Yes. We have a Florida resident test us and if we can't get him to cuss at us we fail the test and have to degrade our driving skills some more. :-)
I just saw that. Do only black people speed?
The cameras are set up, and owned by the govt., the fines start off at very reasonable levels, and only get expensive if you are going way over the speed limit. I only got one ticket while I was in Germany, and the fine was 10 marks (about $6 at the time). In Germany, the goal is to get people to slow down; in the USA, the goal has clearly been to generate revenue.
To put it in 2nd amendment terms: the cameras aren't evil, it's the people who have misused the cameras that are evil.
I cracked up when the town where my work is located, and a notorious ticket writing jurisdiction, put cameras up with a deal with the camera company. Not a month later, the cameras stopped red light running, and the city officials were bemoaning the lack of revenue since they still had to make payments on the cameras.
Too funny.
Needed in Cali...
“Yes. We have a Florida resident test us and if we can’t get him to cuss at us we fail the test and have to degrade our driving skills some more. :-) “
LOL. In many Counties in Florida we have sensors in the road that cause the light to change. I don’t know if you have ever seen a red light change and there were no cars crossing and you just sat there you would appreciate this automated system. But you have to spot some where in the vicinity of the broad white line.
Well for some reason people from Ohio have yet to figure this out. The young ones pull mostly through the intersection and the cotton tops stop way too short. Consequently the light never ever changes. I pull up close to the ones past the line which pisses them off (especially Ohio Bikers) and for the old ones I get out of my truck and walk up and knock on the window. Most of the old ones are quite confused by the concept of a sensor.
The other thing people from Ohio and other northern states do is water lawns in winter. I want to put signs up on i-75 and i-95. “ the grass is not dead. it is dormant. all the water and chemicals will not change that. come back in July and it will be green.’ LOL
I can understand the watering in "winter". If it isn't frozen solid it is supposed to be green and growing. I guess Florida grass is similar to other Florida species - "Brrrrr! It's 65°. I better put on a coat". :-)
I got caught by one of those revenue producing cameras in St Louis.
There was a red light for a right turn while the traffic going straight had a green in both directions. I slowed down and rolled through the right turn without coming to a complete stop like everyone does(the camera said I was going 8 MPH which is like being stopped, IMO) because the traffic was blocking anyone making an oncoming left turn and there was no risk to anyone.
It was clearly a revenue trap set up by the crooked city government.
I havent been back to St Louis since and I dont plan to go anytime soon. They are not going to get any of my tourism money. I hope that $100.00 was worth it to them.
What most northerners don’t realize we do have seasons in FL. Just because it is warmer here in Winter than up north does not mean there is no season. We have at least two different seasons the wet season and the dry season. The grasses have all evolved to stop growing in winter.
Plus, I need a coat at 75!
If a bike stops in the right spot it will trigger. Besides the metal pierced into most bikers is more than you find on a modern car.
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