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Lawmakers Try to Make New Rules to Cut Down on Fines Related to Traffic Violations

Once again, state lawmakers are trying to green light new rules for how communities can use speed and red light cameras, especially smaller communities that get a big percentage of their revenue from tickets. 

Columbus Democratic Rep. Hearcel Craig is going after communities without mayors’ courts that are running traffic camera programs. He says some violations come with fines in the hundreds to thousands of dollars which he says is “abusive and excessive."

“What we’re looking to do is close those loopholes by capping those fees. At this point enough is enough,” Craig says.

A trio of bills from Republican Rep. Tom Patton of Strongsville would ban traffic-camera use in communities that get more than 30 percent of their revenue from the cameras or have fewer than 200 residents or no fire or EMS services. But the commission that looks over legislation is warning that all these bills could be a problem under the state’s home-rule provision, which allows communities to set certain rules. 

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.