Monday, April 05, 2010

COAST tries again on red-light camera ban

This just in via email:

COAST returns to Toledo with petitions to ban Red Light Cameras

Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 6:30 PM



For immediate release:
Monday, April 5, 2010 at 8:30 AM


This Thursday, COAST returns to Toledo to help local volunteers with petitions in hand to start the 2010 drive to ban Red Light and Speeding Cameras in the City of Toledo. The details of the gathering are as follows:


Cambridge Place (in west Toledo)
1821 West Alexis (West of Jackman Road in K-Mart Plaza)

Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 6:30 PM

Phone number of hall: (419) 475-6393

Last year, local volunteers with COAST assistance pursued petitions in the Glass City and gathered enough signatures, but a technical deficiency in the petitions prevented 2009 ballot access. COAST pledged to return to help in 2010 to help local volunteers, and this visit is the launch of that effort.

In 2009, at least three other cities in Ohio batted back Red Light Cameras. Pickerington residents defeated the plan with legislative action, and voters in Chillicothe and Heath, Ohio banned the cameras with ballot initiatives. In 2008, Cincinnati voters banned the pernicious and intrusive devices with a Charter Amendment.

The Toledo proposal is modeled after Cincinnati's and will effectively ban unmanned red light and speeding cameras from being enforced in City limits.


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2 comments:

im4recycling said...

Chris Finney from COAST will be in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday, April 9. 2010 at noon at the corner of Chester and E. 71st to kick off the Cleveland Campaign to Ban Red Light Cameras and the Garfield Hts. Campaign to Ban Red Light Cameras. In 2009 alone, over 16,000 tickets were issued at this intersection. The sad part is the Ohio House voted to ban these statewide in 2005 but the bill was vetoed by then governor Taft.

The Ohio House of Representatives voted 72-23 to approve a bill by state Representative Jim Raussen (R-Springdale) today that would effectively prohibit the use of red light cameras and speed cameras in the state. Raussen's legislation would only allow the devices to be used when a police officer is present to witness the offense and issue the citation to the driver.

The House also voted 92-4 to add a provision standardizing yellow signal timing to the ITE recommendations. The amendment's sponsor, Rep. Shawn Webster, cited the Texas Transportation Institute study showing longer yellow times decreased accidents.

Cynical Counsel said...

I attended last nights meeting. The numbers were low, but the motivation seemed high. The information was provided and the errors from last year are corrected.

If you see a petition and are a registered voter in Toledo, sign it. All citizens should support the ballot initiative process in our free Republic as one of many proper checks of government power.

TAHL

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