Mayfield Police Add Traffic Cameras to I-271 | Local News

The Mayfield Village Police Department plans to add human-operated speed cameras to a stretch of Interstate 271 between Wilson Mills Road and Ridgebury Boulevard, with tickets mailed to violators.

The cameras were approved by the village council for first reading on September 20 and are expected to be in place by late October or early November, Police Chief Paul Matias told the Cleveland Jewish News on October 4. up to 19 mph above the 60 mph limit; $ 200 for driving 20 to 29 mph over the limit; and $ 300 to drive 30 mph over the limit or faster.

Matias introduced the idea to the board in June via a letter, the board first discussing it in July. According to the ordinance, those fined will have 30 days to pay. If payment is not made within 30 days, an additional fee of $ 20 will be added. If the ticket is not paid for within 60 days, an additional $ 20 will be added, which will be collected through civil suit or other suitable means of collection.

The cameras will operate during the morning and evening rush hours, with normal traffic stops outside of periods of heavy traffic, Matias said.

“Late last year I was watching the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) traffic monitor on I-271 North near Highland Road right in the middle of Mayfield Village,” he said. “Looking at the numbers, you see a significant increase in the number of vehicles going over 85 mph. In January, I was working to assign agents to try to cope with this rush hour in the morning. We noticed that with the number of drivers and the speeds, it was becoming very dangerous to have these traffic stops. “

Brainstorming, Matias said he decided he didn’t want to “give way to crazy motorists” and began to look into the photo application. Mayfield hired Gatso, a Beverly, Mass., Company that produces security cameras for red lights, speed, and school zones. The company will send the tickets by mail and will be paid by sharing 38% of the fines received. He will not receive a share of the other fines generated by the traffic police department.

Matias said the implementation of the human-operated cameras would not impact the department’s workforce. Physical cameras will not be installed. The cameras require an officer to observe a car moving at high speed, point a hand-held laser camera at the car, and the camera will take a photo of the license plate and ticket the driver with whom the car is registered. Human operated cameras will not be used on weekends or holidays.

“But just because we’re not doing the photos app doesn’t mean you can just keep speeding up,” he said.

While no one likes camera tickets, Mitch Luxenburg, a lawyer at the Mitch Luxenburg law firm in Beachwood, said he was not sure there was “empirical data” to support the idea that hand-held or mounted cameras slow down traffic unless there are signs posted warning drivers of enforced speed limits.

“Having said that, they have been ruled legal in Ohio and there is nothing drivers can do about it,” he said in an email. “By equipping cameras and radars with uniformed officers, municipalities can meet the standards of proof required by law. “

Luxenburg added that the tickets are only civil fines and that the tickets go with the car and not with the driver, like a parking ticket.

“If you lend your car to someone and they speed up, you get the ticket, not them,” he said. “The only way to avoid this is that once you get the ticket you have to sign an affidavit stating that it was not you and provide the contact details of who it was. But since it’s not on either person’s driving record, it’s usually not worth fighting for. For drivers who want to fight the ticket, it is not cost effective to hire a lawyer.

As for Mayfield’s involvement in the new ordinance, Matias stressed that it was not a seizure of money.

“If it was, I would use it every weekend and every moment of the day,” he said. “It’s only during rush hour. The point is to try to reduce speeds. And if these drivers know that we are applying the photo app, they will think about slowing down. If you are already driving safely and within legal limits, you have nothing to worry about.