Tuesday, December 13, 2005
City refunds money to school zone speeders
The city of Akron, Ohio, has decided to refund fine money to about 2,000 people caught speeding in school zones. It's not that they weren't speeding, it's just that they think it's not fair that they were caught speeding:
AKRON, Ohio -- Speeders in Akron will be getting some money back.
After getting hundreds of complaints, the Akron City Council voted Monday night to refund thousands of tickets issued from cameras set up in school zones, NewsChannel5 reported.
In just 19 days, the cameras caught more than 2,000 people speeding, issuing tickets up to $250 each.
Many residents said the cameras were not publicized and seemingly showed up overnight.
Councilman Mike Williams called the city's plan to put up the cameras a stealth method.
"I think people were ticketed unfairly," Williams said.
Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic said the cameras were publicized and they are making school zones safer.
He said 400 people a day were caught speeding by the cameras in the first few days. Now there are about 30 tickets given out a day.
The mayor said for now until the city decides whether to keep the cameras permanently, new tickets will be $35. The money will not go to the city's general fund, but to promote child safety only.
Motorists who already paid full price for their tickets are expected to get money returned to them.
Am I missing something here? Nobody is claiming these people weren't speeding in a scool zone. Nobody is claiming the cameras didn't work correctly, or that the tickets were issued in error. The sole complaint is that people claim they weren't warned sufficiently that the cameras had been installed.
Let's see...state law in Ohio has been 20 m.p.h. in a school zone forever. School zones are clearly posted with warning signs AND reduced speed limit signs. So anybody driving in a school zone knows (or should know) the speed limit is 20 m.p.h. I guess this falls under the "it's OK if you don't get caught rule"... "since we didn't know about the cameras, and didn't see the cameras, and we didn't see any police car, we had every right to break the law and speed in a school zone, and it's not fair that you caught us breaking the law."
AKRON, Ohio -- Speeders in Akron will be getting some money back.
After getting hundreds of complaints, the Akron City Council voted Monday night to refund thousands of tickets issued from cameras set up in school zones, NewsChannel5 reported.
In just 19 days, the cameras caught more than 2,000 people speeding, issuing tickets up to $250 each.
Many residents said the cameras were not publicized and seemingly showed up overnight.
Councilman Mike Williams called the city's plan to put up the cameras a stealth method.
"I think people were ticketed unfairly," Williams said.
Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic said the cameras were publicized and they are making school zones safer.
He said 400 people a day were caught speeding by the cameras in the first few days. Now there are about 30 tickets given out a day.
The mayor said for now until the city decides whether to keep the cameras permanently, new tickets will be $35. The money will not go to the city's general fund, but to promote child safety only.
Motorists who already paid full price for their tickets are expected to get money returned to them.
Am I missing something here? Nobody is claiming these people weren't speeding in a scool zone. Nobody is claiming the cameras didn't work correctly, or that the tickets were issued in error. The sole complaint is that people claim they weren't warned sufficiently that the cameras had been installed.
Let's see...state law in Ohio has been 20 m.p.h. in a school zone forever. School zones are clearly posted with warning signs AND reduced speed limit signs. So anybody driving in a school zone knows (or should know) the speed limit is 20 m.p.h. I guess this falls under the "it's OK if you don't get caught rule"... "since we didn't know about the cameras, and didn't see the cameras, and we didn't see any police car, we had every right to break the law and speed in a school zone, and it's not fair that you caught us breaking the law."
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