The Youngstown Police Department has installed a speed meter on South Hazelwood about 200 yards south of Chaney High School.
I haven't seen it yet, but it's probably to justify giving notice of the speed enforcement before they start using the new citation cameras in school zones. They claim for safety but in reality it's a money grab anyways since they don't have to chase anyone down. Nothing says they can't send a fine for any speed over the posted limit. So be ready to not go 1 mph over the limit as it's us that will have to prove if it's a possible camera speed issue. Personally I'm not worried for myself as I don't speed at all and I don't have any citation on my record.
Well, the law on the books that says a police officer must witness the speed
violation first hand is still in effect, as far as I know. If there's a speed camera
posted there, they better have a cop to back it up, else someone will challenge
it in court - and WIN.
The new camera guns are hand-held BY a police officer, so they are legit if
challenged in court because the officer is the one taking the picture and
the speed reading.
Girard tried the automated camers, and FAILED when an attorney took them
to court - all of their cameras were ordered to be removed as a result.
Allan youse tooks da words right outa me head ... no fair. :laugh:
Yeah it's right down the street from me. Not sure what the purpose is, aside from calibrating my motorcycle speedometer :P
There's one on Connecticut by the St Brendan's Summit Academy now too. The law of an officer present is a loophole but doesn't stop them from not calibrating the equipment properly. They can put any officer, even those on desk duty, into a patrol car with a camera and meet the loophole requirements. I'd rather have a known speed camera in school zones. The law of speed is actually a suggested speed anyways based on road conditions. An officer can cite you for unsafe driving if it's icy and you're doing the limit. I don't speed and use cruise all the time set 3 below max, so I'm personally not worried...unless I get stopped for 1 over due to a bad calibration on the camera.
The one on South Hazelwood is set for 25 miles per hour. As soon as you go over 25 mph, red and blue lights start to flash on the roadside speed meter.
Here in Montgomery County where I live, they cut you a little bit of slack - camera
goes off when you are more than 4 MPH above the posted speed. Speedometers
vary in calibration from one car to the next, also and they police here take that
into consideration when setting up their cameras.
I rode the bus past this location today. The speed meter has been removed.