By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The city’s civil speeding violation program shows no sign of slowing down with 1,196 motorists cited in January.

The program’s goal is to reduce the speed of drivers in school zones and on highways, city officials say.

But that apparently isn’t happening.

The number of citations last month was above average.

The program started Aug. 18, 2015, with 5,051 motorists receiving speeding citations last year. That’s an average of about 1,120 a month.

Of the 1,196 citations last month, 665 have been mailed with 111 paying, said Lt. William Ross, head of the city police department’s traffic unit, which operates the speed-camera program. That’s a collection rate of only 17 percent.

In 2015, 52 percent of those cited paid the city.

Optotraffic, the Maryland company that provides the speed cameras and processes the citations for the city, can take up to a month to mail the notices.

The city came to an agreement Jan. 22 with Municipal Collections of America to go after those who don’t pay the fees, which range from $100 to $150, depending on the speed.

The program has officers issue civil citations rather than stop speeders and give moving violations with a fine and points on their driving records.

Using $125 as an average fee for the 2,604 paid citations in 2015, $325,500 was collected with the city getting $211,575, or 65 percent of the amount paid. Optotraffic kept 35 percent, or $113,425 last year.

The number of civil citations just last month is considerably more than 279 speeding tickets issued last year by the city police department.

Using the cameras allows officers to catch more speeders than if police had to stop and ticket those exceeding the speed limit, Ross said.

“Officers are still making stops, but just for other things,” Ross said. “Speed is being handled more efficiently by camera enforcement, and it frees the officers to handle other issues.”

Officers have more time to stop motorists for violations including operating a vehicle while intoxicated, driving under suspension, going through red lights and stop signs and equipment violations, he said.

Those cited with the speed cameras pay a civil penalty 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 are given only to motorists caught by the cameras, held by police officers, 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 issued to those going at least 10 mph over the limit.

The focus of the program is Interstate 680 between South Avenue and Meridian Road, where the speed limit is 50 mph.

Since the cameras started being used, the city “hasn’t had a serious injury or a fatal accident on 680,” Ross said.