Number of speed cam tickets rising rapidly — what Peninsula officials had to say
PENINSULA, Ohio (WJW) – The FOX 8 I-Team is now tracking down local leaders who have been avoiding our questions about speed camera tickets.
The number of camera tickets has been exploding in the Summit County village of Peninsula.
Since the spring, village officers have been using speed cameras on State Route 303. Peninsula has sent out close to 9,000 citations since the program started.
According to minutes from the Peninsula council meeting from Nov. 14, the village collected over $500,000 from the tickets..
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Peninsula has a population of about 530 residents.
Dozens of drivers have contacted us about the tickets, many saying they agree people should drive the speed limit and they don’t believe they were speeding.
The drivers said they didn’t want to pay the $100 fee in Stow Municipal Court to fight the ticket. Stow Municipal Court officials say the $100 filing fee is returned if the person wins the case.
The Institute for Justice sent a letter to village officials in November asking them to change the program. It says forcing someone to pay to have a hearing violates their rights.
Stow Municipal Court officials did not return emails asking for a statement about the fee or the letter from the Institute for Justice.
The I-Team went to the Peninsula village meeting Tuesday to ask about the program and the $100 fee to challenge the ticket. We arrived 20 minutes before the meeting asking to speak to the mayor. Mayor Daniel Schneider Jr. walked past us, ignoring our questions and saying he had no statement.
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“Why are you so afraid to answer questions for us?” I-Team reporter Ed Gallek asked the mayor.
He responded that we should send him an email.
We have been emailing the mayor since February 2023, shortly after they announced they would be starting the program, and he has continually declined to speak to us on camera.
Councilman John Krusinski told us the cameras are for safety and that some drivers have been clocked driving extremely fast in the small village.
“The mayor and everybody’s doing the right thing to protect their people,” Krusinski said. “You don’t do your research.”
We told Krusinski we researched traffic crashes on the portion of State Route 303 in Peninsula, where the speed cameras are used, and found the number of traffic crashes has spiked since the speed camera ticket program started. The number of crashes have more than doubled compared to the same period in 2022.
We asked Krusinski if the cameras are to improve safety, why are accidents increasing.
“Got to be some other coincidence,” the councilman said. Krusinski also criticized our reporting.
We also asked council members and the mayor if they were concerned that drivers who want to contest the ticket have to pay $100 to have their case heard by a judge.
The mayor did not respond.
“It’s up to them,” Krusinski said. “Nothing to do with us.”
A couple residents at the meeting told us they are in favor of the traffic camera tickets, saying they have lived in the village for years and many drivers speed through the small village.
Councilmembers say if people slow down and drive the speed limit, they will not receive a ticket.
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