Ohio Speed Traps

A speed trap may be defined as a street or road which is wide enough, straight and smooth enough, and sufficiently free of obstructions limited visibility to permit driving at a certain speed but where the law nevertheless calls for a much lower speed. [p. 43 of Volume II of the IRPS study, citing "Speed Traps and Safety" by Kay Lorentzen in Traffic Engineering, pp.167-168, January 1956]

My comments on the causes and results of Ohio's speed traps may be found in my Letter to the Editor of the Columbus Dispatch {link to their homepage} regarding its series, entitled Wheels of Justice {link to articles}, published in late 1996. That letter (sent around the end of 1996) follows (with prettier formatting):

Your series, Wheels of Justice, lead by Michael J. Berens, superbly documents the highway robbery of our time. Even the chair of the Ohio House Judiciary Committee candidly admitted that legislators "seldom consider the big picture" when making laws.

My decade of experience with the National Motorists Association in fighting the 55-mph limit and equally corrupt local speed zoning gives me a broad perspective. Local "greed enforcement" (sorry, speed enforcement) results inevitably from flouting a basic principle of American government: separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, a situation aided and abetted by Ohio Law.

  1. First, municipalities routinely legislate 35-mph or lower limits, typically without engineering justification or sometimes legal authority, often on multi-lane highways that would warrant higher limits. Even the smallest of Ohio’s 942 municipalities has almost unchecked authority to post speed limit signs on U.S. and State Routes.
  2. Municipal police, particularly in small villages, must be tempted (if not encouraged) to tax non-residents or tourists who are unlikely to travel great distances to fight in court. Filling municipal coffers while turning a blind eye to infractions by local voters is just too enticing.
  3. [With respect to Ohio's third branch of government, the judiciary], Ohio’s system of Mayor’s Courts allows the mayor who sets the speed limit, and hires/fires police, to then pass judgment and collect fines. However, in its defense, unchecked tyranny is very cost-effective.
Speed enforcement wouldn’t be a $68 million racket in Ohio if only traffic engineers set speed limits, and only in conformance with recommendations from their professional organization, the Institute of Transportation Engineering’s Speed Zoning committee.

A grand first step would be making the Ohio Dept. of Transportation (ODOT) responsible for speed zoning on U.S. and State Routes inside municipalities. When ODOT was given similar responsibility on just freeways this summer, the bewildering patchwork of 55-mph and 65-mph zones almost disappeared.

No wonder that people lack respect for the law or its enforcers in general. They see plainly that the laws impacting them daily, speed laws, are outdated. The 35-mph municipal speed limit was authorized back in 1929 and is often woefully out-of-step with modern vehicles, highways, and drivers. What citizen could have confidence in our other laws?

Legalizing most drivers by setting reasonable speed limits has little influence on travel speeds or accidents, as traffic engineers {link to Federal Highway Administration study} have known for decades. Just notice how Ohio’s traffic fatalities have dropped to their lowest point in half-a-century since increasing the speed limit from 55-mph to 65-mph.

The Book Back to the Ohio NMA rootpage.

Updated June 06, 1997