By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The number of civil speeding citations issued by police easily should exceed 5,000 for the year – and enforcement only started Aug. 18.

Since the program began after a one-month warning period, 4,640 citations have been issued as of last Friday, based on an ongoing weekly count by The Vindicator.

The city police department ticketed 960 people for speeding in all of 2014.

The department cited about 550 motorists weekly when speed-camera enforcement started, but that number has dropped to about 175 a week since the start of November.

It was 274 between Dec. 5 and last Friday, said Lt. William Ross, head of the city police department’s traffic unit, which operates the speed-gun program.

The reasons for the decline are less enforcement because the number of days off for officers using the cameras is higher than normal this time of the year, the weather, and people slowing down in target enforcement areas, Ross said.

When the weather is bad, the amount of time officers use the speed guns decreases as accurate readings are best obtained either standing outside or in police vehicles with the window down, Ross has said.

As of last Friday, 2,022 people who received speeding citations have paid them, based on The Vindicator’s count of weekly numbers provided by the police department.

Using $125 for an average citation, that’s $252,750 in speeding fees – with the city getting $164,287.50, or 65 percent of the amount paid, and Optotraffic, the Maryland company that provided the speed guns and processes and mails the citations for the city, keeping 35 percent, or $88,462.50.

If the 2,000 others who’ve been cited pay, that’s an additional $250,000, with the city getting $162,500 of it.

Police officers point the speed guns at vehicles and issue civil citations rather than stop speeders and give moving violations with a fine and points on their driving records.

Enforcement is in school zones and on highways, with most of the citations issued to those driving on Interstate 680 between South Avenue and Meridian Road with a speed limit of 50 mph.

Speeders face civil penalties of $100 for driving up to 12 mph over the speed limit, $125 for 14 to 19 mph over the limit and $150 for those driving at least 20 mph over the limit.

Citations, however, are given only to motorists caught by the speed cameras going at least 12 mph over the limit on highways, except in construction zones where it drops to at least 10 mph over the limit. In school zones, citations are given to vehicles driving at least 10 mph over the limit.