Caught on cam: Traffic camera clocks more violations than any in city

Speed demons beware — at least while passing the traffic camera on Douglas Road near the University of Toledo’s campus.

According to an article by The Blade, city records show that the traffic camera on Douglas Road near campus has generated nearly twice as many tickets as any other camera in Toledo this past year, totaling more than 8,300 tickets.

Jessica Castellani, a second-year double majoring in psychology and religious studies, received a $125 ticket from the traffic camera at the intersection of Douglas Road and University Hills.

“All of Douglas is 45 pretty much the whole way and then I feel like pretty close to that camera it slows down to 40 and I don’t think I noticed that. I only got the ticket going 51 in a 40, so had the speed limit been 45, I felt like I was only going six over, but it was 40 so I was going 11 over,” Castellani said.

Castellani said that she thinks having the camera next to the light makes it more likely for you to get a ticket since people commonly speed up to make it through a light before it turns red.

She also said she thinks it would be better to be pulled over by a police officer for speeding rather than be ticketed by the traffic camera.

“For a police officer you could say, ‘I thought the speed limit was 45 and I was just speeding up to make it through this light,’ and then they’re more likely to kind of let you go or give you a warning, but with the cameras it’s like, that’s it,” Castellani said.

Chief of Police Jeff Newton supports the traffic cameras because their goal is to have an impact on speeding and red light violations. Newton said the intersection of Dorr Street and Secor Road used to have many blown red lights before a traffic camera was installed there.

“Secor used to be one of my most common offenses for a traffic stop. Once that red light camera was put into place, there was a noticeable difference in the number of red light violations that I witnessed at that same intersection. So it seemed that the community did take notice of the camera and it had the intended effect, to reduce the number of red light violations,” Newton said.

Newton said that the importance of speed enforcement in general around the university stems from the amount of pedestrians, cyclists and “people that are just more vulnerable and in need of motorists in compliance with the law to be safe.”

To Newton, while he thinks the cameras have a positive impact on protecting motorists, he does not think they can completely replace traditional, in-person policing of traffic.

“I think that the cameras have been helpful. I don’t think it replaces the old-fashioned traffic enforcement that we provide on campus and on the edges of campus, so it’s kind of a multifaceted approach. The University of Toledo Police Department doesn’t operate or own any of the camera systems, they’re all city-owned, but again, I do think that they have a noticeable impact,” Newton said.

Newton said the recent renovation to Dorr Street with the new medians, lights and turnarounds that happened in the last couple of years succeeded in having a “traffic-calming effect on Dorr Street.” Some key tenets of the project were to make it more pedestrian-friendly and to slow traffic down.

“There’s been a lot of intention into making the streets safer around campus particularly for pedestrians,” said Newton.

Jane Bradley, director of creative writing in UT’s English department, received a ticket from the traffic camera. She said that once you turn onto Douglas Road from Dorr Street, you drive a long while before seeing a sign stating the speed limit.

“You go for a long stretch without seeing a sign. The sign is nowhere near that light, and at night, all those roads are clear — this is at 8 at night — and you can get up some speed once you’ve turned onto Douglas from Dorr because there’s no traffic and there’s nothing to slow you down until that light,” Bradley said.

Bradley said that at night it’s easier to speed without realizing it because you’re alone on the road more often.

“It didn’t seem like I was speeding because I was just cruising down the road. And there are a lot of roads here in town like Dorr especially when you get over to Reynolds and Glendale — people are doing 50 on those roads all the time. That’s how the traffic moves. There are lot of streets in town like that, especially at night when there’s nothing to slow you down,” Bradley said.

When asked about pedestrian safety and if that was good enough reason to have the traffic cams, Bradley said she understood Newton’s perspective.

“I get that perspective, especially during the day, that has got a lot of pedestrians and cyclists … And I was speeding, I will say that. I’m not going to say it’s an unfair ticket,” Bradley said. “I can get why it’s there because yes, there’s so many pedestrians there.”

Bradley said she doesn’t object to the traffic camera, but thinks there should be a speed limit sign nearer to the intersection of Douglas Road and Dorr Street.

“I think a lot of people get accustomed to getting away with speeding. I don’t have an objection to it being there; I think they should have better signage about the speed limit … coming from Dorr.”