Ohio drivers, be warned. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that police officers may issue speeding tickets based solely on a visual estimation of speed. The measure passed by a margin of 5-1.
According to the court’s ruling, officers in Ohio may issue speeding tickets based on a visual estimations of speed, and are not required to use independent verification from a device such as a radar unit.
The Supreme Court’s ruling was spurred by a case in Ohio’s lower courts. In 2008 a driver in Copley, Ohio challenged a speeding ticket in court after the officer involved was unable to produce a radar certification of the claimed speed, but was still found guilty of the charge. The court ruled against the driver as the officer showed he was trained to accurately estimate vehicle speeds within 3 to 4mph.
And if the court’s ruling wasn’t worrisome enough, Cincinnati chief deputy prosecutor Charles Rubenstein revealed to News 5 that “police have used visual estimation of speeding around this part of Ohio for years.”
No word if other states will follow in Ohio’s footsteps.
References
1. ‘Court: Officer’s…’ view
