It appears the Clark County village has been putting one over on people who’ve been ticketed for traveling over the posted limit, but under the legal limit.
The village also has rebuffed the Ohio Department of Transportation’s call to post the correct speed limits.
The village says it hasn’t been enforcing the 35 mph limit in the stretch of road in question since last fall because of a dispute with ODOT.
According to state law, a stretch of road through a town like North Hampton must have development on both sides of the road in order to be posted as a 35 mph zone. More than 1,000 feet of road going into the village from the east on state Route 41 doesn’t.
To be posted at the lower speed, North Hampton needs to undergo a traffic study, which the town has declined to do. Nor has it taken up a state offer to do that study for free.
The town of about 350 people takes in roughly $200,000 a year in traffic fines.
In the minds of many, this qualifies it as a speed trap.
Moreover, the village’s argument that it is just making the town safer by enforcing traffic rules has a hazy past.
A column by Charles A. Balzer on this webpage charges the birth of the enforcement effort caused him to resign as village solicitor. From his viewpoint, the enforcement originated as a way to make money.
The more we learn about North Hampton’s traffic enforcement, the less it looks like a simple effort to make the village safer.
A village of this size simply doesn’t need to be this aggressive in handing out speeding tickets. At the very least it should post the correct speed limits.
Defenders of the North Hampton traffic enforcement say just follow the law and you won’t have to worry. Might we suggest North Hampton do the same?
And one final thought. If people were ticketed for breaking a 35 mph speed limit in an area that should have been posted for 50 mph, do they get a refund?