Girard appeals county judge’s order

Staff report

GIRARD

The city is pushing back against a judge’s order to allow more than 7,000 drivers who an attorney claims were wrongfully issued speed-camera citations to join a class-action lawsuit against the city and Blue Line Solutions, a Tennessee-based speed-camera company.

The litigation revolves around the contested speed limit on a portion of Interstate 80 between Dec. 7, 2017, and Jan. 8, 2018, after construction ended.

The normal speed limit is 65 mph on I-80, but the city enforced the temporary 55 mph limit for the month after construction because the Ohio Department of Transportation hadn’t removed the speed limit signs. ODOT said last year the journalized speed limit during that period was still 65 mph, and it’s not required to notify cities of construction zone changes.

The city’s attorney filed the appeal last week against the order of Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court certifying a class-action in the lawsuit against Girard and the speed-camera company.

The suit alleges 7,733 drivers were wrongfully ticketed, and 6,784 of those drivers paid the fines, which ranged from $104 to $179.

Six people are the original plaintiffs in the case. Judge Logan gave the order allowing other drivers to join the class-action lawsuit July 12.

Atty. Marc Dann originally filed a similar lawsuit in U.S. District Court but moved his suit to the county court.