Trotwood is second city to bring back red light cameras

City joins Dayton in citing motorists caught on traffic devices.

Two local communities are resurrecting their controversial red light and speed cameras, and it won’t be long before violations caught on camera will lead to citations instead of warnings.

The city of Dayton is already citing motorists using automated, mobile traffic cameras since the mandatory warning period has ended, during which time almost 18,000 warnings were issued to car owners.

Dayton is installing fixed automated cameras, which also will issue citations at the conclusion of a warning period.

Trotwood, meanwhile, says it, too, will again use cameras to record traffic violations and cite car owners.

Officials with both cities say the cameras encourage drivers to obey traffic laws and improve safety along local roadways.

“This is about saving lives,” said Trotwood Mayor Mary McDonald. “This has to be done.”

Dayton police have operated two mobile speed trailers and multiple hand-held speed cameras for more than one month.

Right now, two trailers are stationed at Riverside Drive and North James H. McGee Boulevard.

The trailers recorded 272,745 vehicles traveling above the speed limit in October. That’s out of about 386,700 vehicles that trav- eled past the devices while they were operation.

About 70 percent of vehicles on those roads are not obeying the posted speed limits, officials said.

However, just about 20,460 vehicles were trav- eling at speeds that made them eligible to receive a warning.

Every potential violation is reviewed by police, and citations — and warnings — are only issued when there is clear evidence of a violation, officials said.

Police mailed out 17,955 warnings to the registered owners of the vehicles caught on camera speeding. Police will mail out fines for viola- tions recorded by the cameras moving forward.

The city is installing fixed automated traffic cameras at five locations, and installation of systems at two of the sites is nearly complete, offi- cials said.

When the cameras go active, motorists caught vio- lating the traffic laws during the first 30 days will receive warnings, but violations will result in fines after that.

Dayton saw a 40 percent increase in crashes and a nearly 50 percent increase in fatalities in the last two years, after the city’s cameras were turned off, said Cara Zinski-Neace, Dayton police spokeswoman.

“The reason we brought the traffic safety enforcement camera program back is to try to improve the safety of the motoring public in the city of Dayton,” she said.

Trotwood, like Dayton, turned off its automated traffic cameras two years ago after state lawmakers put tough new restrictions on the devices, requiring police to be present during their operation in order to issue citations.

But that requirement was struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court, paving the way for cities including Trotwood and Dayton to resume using automated cameras without needing to dedicate police resources.

Trotwood also saw crashes increase 40 percent since its cameras were shut off, said Mayor McDonald.

The city gets revenue from the traffic camera citations, but safety is the main concern, she said.

Trotwood’s cameras will issue warnings for the first 30 days of operation. The city has cameras at Salem Avenue and Turner Road, Ohio 49 and Free Pike and Ohio 40 and Olive Road.