Getting a speeding ticket is never fun – between fees, fines, and increased insurance costs, you are looking at paying more than $400. Fighting the ticket is a lot harder in Ohio. The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that “trained” officers can rely on their own visual estimates to hand out legally binding speeding tickets.
The court case of the Ohio speeding ticket
A 5 to 1 decision of the Ohio Supreme Court stated that officers don’t need verifiable data to issue a speeding ticket. Of course the officer must be “trained” in estimating speed. This indicates no radar gun, no laser measurement of speed, no paper trail to dispute – only your word against the officer’s. The supreme court of Ohio is speedy to point out that this is not what they desire to see as policy, but what the constitution permits.
The financial reality of speeding tickets
Most small towns will use speeding tickets for more than just some safety enforcement. You will find a couple of cities making more than 30 percent of their spending budget from traffic enforcement. An average speeding ticket in the United States costs somewhere around $150, and increased insurance costs can run up to $300 over three years from just the first infraction. Some states — such as Florida — have even passed laws that say cities are not allowed to make any money more than 30 percent of their income from speeding tickets. Some states have even instituted systems like the one where speeding tickets can be paid for on the spot with a credit card.
Reaction to the Ohio speeding ticket case
The Ohio speeding ticket case has garnered criticism from around the world. The ACLU has stated that this case will open up Ohio racial profiling, stops for no reason and civil liberty violations. In the Ohio congress, SB 280 was introduced to address this concern. Senator Tim Grendell and Senator Capri Cafaro have introduced a bill that is there to require verifiable evidence for speeding tickets.
