(Columbus, OH) Automated traffic cameras are getting the green light from the Ohio Supreme Court.
The court struck down parts of a 2015 state law restricting cities use of traffic cameras an unconstitutional violation of home rule rights. Dayton, Toledo, and other Ohio cities challenged the law claiming camera enforcement of speeding and red light running promoted safer driving.
Justices struck down a requirement that police officers be present when traffic cameras busted red-light runners and speeders, as well as a ten-mile-per-hour threshold for writing speeding tickets.
The decision also means Toledo's traffic cameras will stay intact. Critics of traffic cameras claim their use violates motorists' rights and cities use them to pad city budgets.