The following text is from HB 2 which was passed by the Ohio House last week. Read it carefully, that is more than the members of the House probably did. This was attached to a highway spending bill that was called “must pass.” What that meant was, “There is stuff in here that we do not want to discuss, because it will never pass on its own.” Anyway, here is the text of the provision for erecting speed cameras (photo radar) in construction zones.
Section 755.30. (A) As used in this section:
(1) “Automated speed enforcement system” means a device that has one or more sensors and, as a motor vehicle proceeds through an area on a road or highway, is capable of determining the speed of the motor vehicle and producing a photographic or digitally recorded image of the motor vehicle, including an image of the vehicle’s front or rear license plate.
(2) “Citation” means any traffic ticket, citation, summons, or other notice of liability issued in response to an alleged violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code that is detected by an automated speed enforcement system.
(3) “Construction zone” has the same meaning as in division (C) of section 5501.27 of the Revised Code.
(4) “Interstate highway” has the same meaning as in division (H) of section 4519.01 of the Revised Code.
(5) “Motor vehicle leasing dealer” has the same meaning as in section 4517.01 of the Revised Code.
(6) “Motor vehicle renting dealer” has the same meaning as in section 4549.65 of the Revised Code.
(7) “Operator” has the same meaning as in division (Y) of section 4511.01 of the Revised Code.
(8) “Owner” has the same meaning as in division (V) of section 4501.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) There is hereby established the Construction Zone Automated Speed Enforcement System Pilot Project. Under the Pilot Project, a violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code that occurs within a construction zone that is located on an interstate highway and is detected by an automated speed enforcement system shall constitute a civil offense for which a civil penalty is assessed against the operator of the motor vehicle that was involved in the offense. For purposes of this section there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the owner, lessee, or renter of the motor vehicle is the operator. This presumption may be rebutted by providing evidence that another person was operating the vehicle at the time of the alleged violation in accordance with this section. The Pilot Project shall consist only of properly marked construction zones that are located on interstate highways and no other locations. An automated speed enforcement system that is located within a construction zone that is part of the Pilot Project shall be operational only when workers are present within the construction zone. The Department of Public Safety, with the advice and assistance of the Department of Transportation, shall administer the Pilot Project.
(C) Under the Pilot Project, if an automated speed enforcement system determines that a motor vehicle has violated section 4511.21 of the Revised Code while traveling within a construction zone that is located on an interstate highway, a State Highway Patrol trooper shall view the motor vehicle image and its speed as recorded by the automated speed enforcement system to determine if a violation of section 4511.21 did in fact occur. If the trooper determines that the violation did occur, the trooper shall inform the Department of Public Safety or the Department’s designee of that fact. The Department or the Department’s designee shall issue to the motor vehicle owner a citation for the offense, which shall include at a minimum the date, time, and location that the alleged violation occurred, the fact that the violation is being processed under the Pilot Project not as a criminal offense but as a civil offense, and the amount of the civil penalty. The citation also shall state clearly the manners in which the motor vehicle owner is able to challenge the citation.
(D)(1) A motor vehicle owner who is issued a citation under the Pilot Project is liable for the violation and for payment of the resulting civil penalty unless the owner does either of the following in a timely manner:
(a) Files an objection to the citation and any resulting civil penalty and appears in person at a nonjudicial, administrative hearing to challenge the citation;
(b) Submits sufficient reliable, credible evidence that shows that, more likely than not, at the time of the violation the motor vehicle was in the care, custody, or control of another person. Such evidence is required to be submitted by the motor vehicle owner to the Department of Public Safety or the Department’s designee not later than 30 days after the date the owner is notified of the violation in order for the evidence to be considered submitted in a timely manner. The Department shall adopt rules specifying what evidence is sufficiently reliable and credible. Upon determination that the owner of the motor vehicle has presented reliable and credible evidence that the motor vehicle was in the care, custody, or control of another person at the time of the offense, the Department or the Department’s designee may issue a citation to the operator in accordance with this section.
(2) A motor vehicle leasing dealer or motor vehicle renting dealer that receives a citation for an alleged violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code that was detected by an automated speed enforcement system is not liable if the citation was issued for a motor vehicle that was in the care, custody, or control of a lessee or renter at the time of the alleged violation. A dealer that receives a citation for such a violation shall notify the Department of Public Safety or the Department’s designee of the motor vehicle lessee’s or renter’s name and address, and the Department or the Department’s designee may issue a citation in accordance with this section. In no case shall the dealer pay such a citation and then attempt to collect a fee or assess the lessee or renter a charge for any payment of such a citation made on behalf of the lessee or renter.
(E) The Department of Public Safety shall establish a nonjudicial, administrative hearing procedure at which a motor vehicle owner or operator who receives a citation under the Pilot Project is able to appear in person to challenge the citation. At the hearing, the owner or operator shall be able to view all the evidence that served as the basis for issuance of the citation against the owner or operator, to introduce evidence on the owner’s or operator’s behalf, and to produce, examine, and cross-examine witnesses.
(F) An owner or operator of a motor vehicle that is involved in a violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code that is processed under the Pilot Project and who challenges the citation in accordance with division (D)(1) or (2) of this section may appeal a decision of the Department of Public Safety or the Department’s designee that imposes liability on the owner or operator and the civil penalty, within thirty days of the date of the decision, to the municipal court or county court within whose territorial jurisdiction the violation occurred. The municipal court or county court shall affirm the decision of the Department or the Department’s designee if the court finds that the decision is supported by sufficient reliable, credible evidence and is in accordance with the law.
(G)(1) No owner or operator of a motor vehicle that is involved in a violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code that is processed under the Pilot Project is liable for the violation and payment of the civil penalty if notification of the violation is given to the motor vehicle owner more than 90 days after the date of the violation.
(2) No owner or operator of a motor vehicle who is issued a ticket, citation, or summons by a law enforcement officer for a violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance that occurs within a construction zone on an interstate highway and is a criminal offense shall be liable for the same violation and payment of a civil penalty under the Pilot Project if the violation also is detected by an automated speed enforcement system.
(3) If the owner or operator of a motor vehicle that is involved in a violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code that is processed under the Pilot Project fails to pay the civil penalty or to respond to the citation within the time period specified in the citation, the owner or operator shall be deemed to have waived any right to contest liability for the violation and payment of the civil penalty by law.
(H)(1) A violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code that is detected by an automated speed enforcement system and is processed under the Pilot Project is a civil violation for which a civil penalty not exceeding $250 shall be assessed. The Department of Public Safety shall establish the amount of the civil penalty.
(2) Of the civil penalties collected under the Pilot Project:
(a) Fifty per cent shall be paid into the treasury of the municipal corporation in which the violation occurred, or if the violation occurred outside the territorial jurisdiction of a municipal corporation, into the treasury of the county in which the violation occurred;
(b) Forty-five per cent shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the General Revenue Fund;
(c) Five per cent shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the Trauma and Emergency Medical Services Fund created by division (E)(4) of section 4513.263 of the Revised Code.
(3) In addition to the civil penalty that is imposed for a violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code that is processed under the Pilot Project, the Department also shall impose an administrative fee in every such case. The Department shall determine the amount of the fee by rule, and all such fees shall be deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the Automated Speed Enforcement System Fund created by division (M) of this section.
(4) The Department of Public Safety shall adopt rules establishing procedures for collection of civil penalties imposed upon persons under the Pilot Project. The rules may provide that, in the event of nonpayment of a civil penalty or administrative fee by a person, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles may suspend the person’s driver’s or commercial driver’s license or permit or nonresident operating privilege until all outstanding penalties and fees have been paid.
(5) Each citation issued under the Pilot Project shall indicate clearly the amount of the civil penalty that is referenced in divisions (H)(1) and (2) of this section and the amount of the administrative fee that will be paid to the private entity, as referenced in division (H)(3) of this section, that operates the Pilot Project, if any.
(I) No owner or operator of a motor vehicle that is involved in a violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code that is detected by an automated speed enforcement system and is processed under the Pilot Project shall have any points assessed against that person’s driver’s or commercial driver’s license or permit under section 4510.036 of the Revised Code for the violation.
(J) No municipal corporation, county, or township shall enact an ordinance or adopt a resolution authorizing the use of an automated speed enforcement system on any interstate highway within its boundaries. Nothing in this division shall be construed as prohibiting a municipal corporation, county, or township from enacting an ordinance or adopting a resolution authorizing the use of an automated speed enforcement system on any street or highway within its boundaries that is not an interstate highway if the municipal corporation, county, or township otherwise has the power to do so.
(K)(1) The Department of Public Safety may enter into a contract with a private entity for the establishment and operation of the automated speed enforcement system of the Pilot Project. For purposes of this section, if the Department enters into such a contract, the private entity is the Department’s designee.
(2) The Department of Public Safety and the Department of Transportation shall enter into an agreement whereby the Department of Transportation shall grant to the Department of Public Safety or the Department’s designee access to any property of the Department of Transportation and any permits as may be necessary for the Department of Public Safety or its designee to implement the Pilot Project.
(L)(1) The Department of Public Safety shall not use an automated speed enforcement system at any construction zone location unless the proper signs have been erected as required by division (L) of this section.
(2) The Department shall erect signs that shall inform traffic approaching a construction zone that is located on an interstate highway that the construction zone contains an automated speed enforcement system to enforce section 4511.21 of the Revised Code. The Department shall erect the signs not less than one thousand feet and not more than five thousand three hundred feet before the boundary of the construction zone. The signs shall be so erected in each direction of travel on the interstate highway. The Department is responsible for all costs associated with the erection, maintenance, and replacement, if necessary, of the signs. All signs erected under division (L) of this section shall conform in size, color, location, and content to standards contained in the manual adopted by the Department of Transportation pursuant to section 4511.09 of the Revised Code and shall remain in place for as long as the Department of Public Safety utilizes the automated speed enforcement system to enforce section 4511.21 of the Revised Code within the construction zone under the Pilot Project. Any citation issued by or on behalf of the Department for a violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code based upon evidence gathered by an automated speed enforcement system device after the effective date of this section but before the signs have been erected is invalid; provided that no citation is invalid if the Department is in substantial compliance with the requirement of division (L) of this section to erect the signs.
(3) The Department is deemed to be in substantial compliance with the requirements of divisions (L)(1) and (2) of this section to erect the advisory signs if the Department does both of the following:
(a) First erects all signs as required by divisions (L)(1) and (2) of this section and subsequently maintains and replaces the signs as needed so that at all times at least 90 per cent of the required signs are in place and functional;
(b) Annually documents and upon request certifies its compliance with divisions (L)(1) and (2) of this section.
(M) There is hereby created in the state treasury the Automated Speed Enforcement System Fund, consisting of the administrative fees collected pursuant to division (H)(3) of this section. The Department of Public Safety shall use the money in the Fund only to pay expenses associated with the Automated Speed Enforcement System Pilot Project, including paying a private entity to establish, operate, and administer the Pilot Project.
(N) The Construction Zone Automated Speed Enforcement System Pilot Project shall terminate on July 1, 2011, and no citations shall be issued under the Pilot Project on or after that date. Citations that are issued under the Pilot Project before that date may be processed after that date, and citation processing and administrative hearings regarding such citations may continue after that date until all citations issued under the Pilot Project have reached final resolution. Upon certification by the Director of Public Safety to the Director of Budget and Management that all citations issued under the Pilot Project have reached final resolution and all payments that are due the Department’s designee have been paid, the Director of Budget and Management shall transfer all remaining money in the Automated Speed Enforcement System Fund to the General Revenue Fund.
(O) The Department of Public Safety, in consultation with the Department of Transportation and in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt all rules necessary and proper for the establishment, implementation, and administration of the Pilot Project.
What does this mean for you? It means that your constitutional rights are being thrown right out the window again. The legislation to build speed cameras in construction zones clearly states that if the owner of the car was not the driver, it is up to the owner to prove that the car was in the care, custody, or control of another. Once again, a camera system that does not have to prove that you were driving the car.
The “civil penalty” is not to exceed $250 per infraction. On top of the “civil penalty” there will be an “administrative fee” that is yet to be determined. Since the penalty is not to exceed $250, you know that it will be $250. That is a lot of money when the state doesn’t have to prove that YOU were speeding through the construction zone. You could probably line up 15 witnesses that said you were in Idaho with another vehicle, and the State will say that you are guilty because your car sped through the construction zone. If a speed camera ticket goes unpaid, your license will be suspended.
You see, the legislators in Ohio know that these cameras could never be passed on their own merits, so they bury it in a 350+ page document. Take a look for yourself http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/BillText128/128_HB_2_PH_N.html
I urge everybody to contact their State Senators and ask them to vote against this legislation that denies Ohioans of their constitutional rights to due process. You can look up your State Senator’s email address here.