Toledo nets $3 million from traffic cameras

Toledo nets $3 million from traffic cameras

Associated Press

TOLEDO

Stacey Richard was driving along Alexis Road in West Toledo last summer and got caught in what she calls one of the city’s traps.

Like thousands of motorists traversing the city, she got slapped with a citation but was never stopped by a police officer.

“I received a ticket at one of those entrapment spots and guess what, I didn’t pay it because I think it is a miscarriage of justice against my civil rights,” Richard, a nursing student, said half-jokingly.”I have no problem expressing my opinion of these speed traps.”

She received one of the 68,159 citations last year from red light or speed cameras.

“I got it around August at the Whitmer High School location and I researched these lights and found out that the city doesn’t even own them,” she said. “I also found out that they can’t do anything but turn you into the credit bureau, so I didn’t pay it. I think it’s entrapment for sure.”

That intersection alone, at Alexis Road and Whitmer Drive, was one of the most expensive for area drivers ¢ Ä î capturing 12,451 speeding vehicles and 201 red-light violators.

The citations translate into millions for the budget-beleaguered city, and the amount has steadily increased with more cameras on the street, more aggressive collections, and higher fines.

Toledo took in $787,910 in 2010; just more than $1 million in 2011, and nearly $3 million in 2012. This year, the city expects to collect even more — $4.2 million for the city’s general fund.