Ex-Ohio mayor: Traffic violations increase after cameras removed

HEATH, Ohio (AP) — The former mayor says speeding and red-light running soared in a central Ohio community after it turned away from traffic-enforcement cameras.

Residents of Heath voted on Election Day for the city to stop using the cameras to ticket motorists. The cameras, however, have continued to monitor traffic, and former Mayor Richard Waugh says potential speeding violations have jumped about 200 percent and potential red-light violations have surged nearly 600 percent in the eight weeks after the vote.

He said in an e-mail last weekend that the numbers show the cameras were addressing a serious issue.

Waugh was unseated as mayor in November by Mark Johns, who said he never would have introduced the cameras.