America’s Worst Speed Trap: 10,000 Tickets in 4 Weeks
Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Heath, Ohio, has a population of about 9,000 residents, but managed to wrack up more than 10,000 traffic violations in a single month. This disparity helps to explain the widespread anger felt across the small town after city officials approved the installation of traffic cameras at six intersections. The intent was to improve safety at key locations where people tend to speed or run red lights, but instead the city found itself awash in cash from the abundance of traffic tickets. Even after paying the vendor who installed the cameras, Heath officials had an $830,000 profit to apply to the city budget (which is only $14 million annually).
Outrage from motorists, however, has forced town leaders to adjust the program and require only a single $100 fine to cover multiple violations. Due to a delay in processing and mailing citations, many residents didn’t even know they had been caught breaking the law until a slew of tickets showed up all at once in the mail. Mayor Richard Waugh said he expects the amended program to yield only 400 citations a month and an additional $100,000 from fines each year.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
4 Weeks, 10,000 Traffic Tickets (by Josh Jarman, Columbus Dispatch)
Heath, Ohio Traffic Photo Enforcement Information (City of Heath)
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