I-Team: Local driver fights speed camera ticket, wins

MONROEVILLE, Ohio (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team has found a local driver won his battle over a speed camera ticket by proving the town didn’t follow the law.

His case comes to light with a growing pushback on speed cameras statewide.

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Last year, the I-Team exposed the Huron County town of Monroeville for how it handles speed camera tickets. Tom Nelson took the town to court and beat his ticket.

“It was very important. They want us to follow the law, and they don’t follow the laws themselves,” Nelson told us.

Nelson turned to the I-Team after he got his speed camera ticket. He raised questions about how Monroeville clocks drivers and sends out tickets.

In fact, the I-Team found Monroeville does not file all camera tickets in court — only the cases drivers decide to fight.

Nelson fought his.

Video from a court hearing shows a judge giving Nelson the oath to promise to tell the truth. He argues his case referring to statutes under the Ohio Revised Code. He convinced the judge to dismiss his ticket, saying the village filed too late. In other words, the village waited too long to send it to court.

“There was other Ohio Revised Codes that I cited that they go against, but the judge finally ruled on the timeframe that they file their tickets in,” Nelson told the I-Team.

When we first reported on speed camera tickets in Monroeville, the court in Norwalk told us it would review the process. Yet nothing immediately changed.

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In the meantime, in weeks, state Rep. Tom Patton plans to introduce a new law to have the state of Ohio oversee speed cameras. The new law would regulate the towns using speed cameras and the companies processing tickets. The towns and companies would all have to follow the same rules and prove the cameras are accurate.

“It’s becoming such a problem, it has to be addressed,” Patton recently told the I-Team.

Nelson agrees.

“Yes, it’s a very good idea. They need someone to watch over them. It’s a money grab,” he said.

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