St. Ann’s speed camera begins February 1st
ABOVE: School zone on Ashby Rd in St. Ann MO (Image: Google Streetview)
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).
Edmond’s solutions are a good alternate strategy to using cameras to ticket speeding vehicles.
– Steve Patterson
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