St. Ann’s speed camera begins February 1st
Starting Monday February 1st motorists speeding along Ashby road in front of Hoech Middle School (3312 Ashby Rd) will receive tickets from a new speed enforcement camera:
ST. ANN, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) – It’s a first of its kind effort in Missouri to try and cut down on speeding in school zones. St. Ann, Missouri, is putting up a camera to catch people who speed through a school zone. But not everyone is thrilled with the idea. The St. Ann program is similar to the red light cameras- offenders will be mailed a ticket with a picture of the speeding car and a fine.
[Police Chief] Schrader says speeders will receive a flat fine of at least $100, but he says no points will be assessed on a driver’s record if they’re caught.
That fact upset attorney Chet Pleban, “They’re a bad thing in my opinion.” Pleban has been an outspoken opponent of red light cameras and he’s against the speed zone camera as well.
Pleban says without assessing points, the program is nothing more than a money maker for St. Ann with big brother watching. “It’s a revenue producing thing that I think is in the long run dangerous,” explained Pleban. “Where does big brother stop? Where does big brother stop monitoring us under the circumstances for revenue production?”
The camera will be in use 24/7-so even when the school zone speed limit is not in effect, drivers breaking the normal speed limit will still get tickets. [Source: Camera Will Soon Be (sic) Catch School Zone Speeders]
Just as numerous municipalities now use red-light cameras I anticipate we will see more of these throughout the region. But is this a good thing? Some would argue the idea is too big brother while others argue safety is the primary concern. What are the alternatives?
A couple of years ago I was in a car with my brother in Edmond OK as we drove entered a school zone in front Cimarron Middle School (3701 South Bryant Avenue, Edmond, OK). South Bryant, like Ashby Rd, has four lanes of traffic but the method of denoting the school zone was the most effective I had ever seen. Small runway lights in the center line flash during the school zone period. The following video from the City of Edmond shows the flashing in-road lights as well as other measures they use to improve the safety of their streets (the intro is cheesy but stick with it).
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4kHXl5nORk
Edmond’s solutions are a good alternate strategy to using cameras to ticket speeding vehicles.
– Steve Patterson
Laws without enforcement are meaningless. Flashing runway lights may keep honest people honest, but will do little to slow down the real speeders, much like the speed trailers we have around here, the ones that flash your actual speed as you drive by. Pay a few fines and risk losing your license, then you might actually pay more attention and slow down . . .
As the Edmond video shows they have signs that show your speed as well as the flashing lights. They have a layered approach.
About time this started here….what was the delay? It has been common practice in Canada for nearly 20 years. I recall the City of Edmonton used to put them in minivans and moved them around all the time to keeps us on our toes. Speed kills and photo radar effectively deters some speeders. People with more money than brains can increase city revenues via their fines and I can keep more of my paycheque my wallet. School zones and residential areas are great places to start. Anyone with children should welcome this.
The only issue I have is that no points are assessed on a drivers record. It's important to have the points pile up to increase the speed deterrent. It's your car and you are responsible for it regardless who is behind the wheel. If the people you lend your automobile to are irresponsible you should make better choices.
RyleyinSTL
If you like Canadian laws so much then move to Canada.
i work at Hoech, i wasn't there last year, but a child was hit crossing the street here. all the flashing lights in the world won't make a lot of people slow down, but the risk of $100 ticket sure will. I'm not a huge fan of “big brother” and the red light cameras, but you can't ignore the fact that last year was the safest driving year for missouri in 60 years. i have to wonder if that has something to do with all of these cameras. I know for fact it has caused me to improve my driving safety.
Sadly, some people will behave morally only if it costs them money.
Awesome. Soon, we'll have all the laws, taxes, social controls general headaches that living in Europe brings, only without the benefits of actually living in Europe. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I hear my mother calling. I mustn't be tardy, or I'll not get my pudding…
Upon further review, this more about the money than about safety. The posted hours of enforcement are well in excess of the times when traffic is coingested and there are large numbers of pedestrians. It even apparently applies even on days when school is not in session. So while Ryley believes that speed kills, and would probably support a maximum speed of 20 mph everywhere and at all times (“you can never be too safe”), I can only support draconian school zone speed limits when there's a limited and proven need to do so.
Most likely the normal posted speed limit is well below the design speed of the 4-lane road.
Exactly
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Such cameras should be allover the roads because this might be the only way to stop speeding drivers….unfortunately that’s impossible because this cost for safety won’t be paid by any local authority. But streets with high risk of accidents or the ones that “hosted” the bigger number of car crashes should be supervised and maybe such cameras are the answer.
I myself got a ticket from this very road from the photo enforcement. It was not 100 dollars it was a 200 dollar ticket. I dont even remember going through a school zone let alone speeding. Where does this stop? We have cameras all over the city watching every move you make. I agree that it is just a money making venture for the city of St Ann. It is not a moving voilation although I was moving. Which means you cant take it to court and have the fine reduced. Just think about that…Its not a moving voilation…but the car was moving. It has been proven time and time again that camera enforcement only increases accidents. So you have to ask yourself if the people who sell these cameras to the cities are getting a cut back from the cities tickets to sign a contract with them?
I will pay my ticket and move on but I will be the first to jump on board any lawsuit against camera enforcement, especially against the city of St Ann.
Let’s be serious about all these so called accident reduction zones particularily the most rediculous one on I 70 by the airport. The St Ann police department where on a nice day you can see most of the police department handing out speeding tickets under the guise of public safety when in fact everyone knows it is to make up loss tax revenues loss due to the collapse of Northwest Plaza. This is a disgusting because the St. Ann tax payers are essentially without police protection during this fiascal. The state legislature should act by passing a law that all local munipalities are barred from sitting on federally funded interstates and handing out any type of ticket. Basically get back where you belong and that is back in your community and provide police protection for those citizens who pay your salary.
St. Ann is a crappy little town They lost Northwest Plaza, Sears etc. They are desperate for cash. The people that have some money are leaving. I just got a $100 canera speed ticket, doing 32 in a 20, by the school, no flashing lights, I received the ticket 6 days after the incident, so although I do remember driving through dumpy St. Ann, I don’t remember anything about when I drove by the school. So the $100 is coming out of my charity fund, taking away from more worthwhile charities. Also, I do use the Home Depot, Lowes and Brannekey hardware. And India Palace, but no more. I have a $6000 bathroom renovation planned next month, would have bought from St. Ann home depot, going to Chesterfield instead. F*** you, St. Ann. I hope you fall into banckruptcy.
Maybe go the speed limit,expecially around a school zone and there would be no ticket. You were wrong. You have no one but yourself to blame.
Not true Moe. I got sandbagged. I’ve lived in St. Louis for 12 years. I do not live or work near St. Ann, and rarely every drive through it. The only two tickets I’ve gotten in that time are in St. Ann. I did not have to drive there last week, I made a mental note to be extra careful, but I did not anticipate a big drop in the speed limit in the middle of a secondary road, and I am 100% sure the flashing lights were not on. It is a money grab because St. Ann has almost no tax revenue. Walmart left, Northwest Plaza including the former sears are empty and are a ghost town. The only business of any size is Donaldson Motorcycles. I was wrong about Home Depot, Brannekey and India Palace, they are right across the border in Bridgeton. St Ann has nothing, and now I will make a point to never drive trough it, except for when I have to ocaasionally drive down hwy 70, where I will make a point to drive under 55. I would be willing to give the 100 to charity, one charity of the towns choosing, one to mine preference, and kick in an additional $25 just to show that I accept my responsibility if they can show that they are not doing this for the money, if they would be willing to refund the $100. This way they can show good faith that the camera is only to reduce speeding and I can own up to my responsibility, and then some. But they wont. They are desperate for money. It shouldn’t be my problem though, I just because they resort sleazy underhanded tactics to get it that nobody else really does. I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is. I take great satisfaction though that I don’t live there and will make a point to never drive through the little armpit of a a town except for very rare trips to the airport, where I will try even then to avoid it. I went there just to take a different route, it didn’t save me any time, I wasn’t in a hurry anyway. have no reason to go there, and neither do most other people, because other than a short stretch on highway 70 almost no one has any reason to pass through it. And no one has any reason to develop anything there unless the town gives a big chunk of the revenue back to the developers via tifs like they do out in Manchester and Ballwin. If they wan’t to draw people there they need to stop shooting themselves in the foot with bs like this.