TIMBERLAKE, Ohio — The Village of Timberlake is the latest Northeast Ohio community to add speed cameras along its busiest roads.
The cameras went into effect around May 15.
A current 30-day warning period is in effect.
Once the 30-day period ends, the cameras will issue citations to drivers who exceed the speed limit by 10 miles or more. Citations will be mailed to drivers caught speeding. According to the village, fines will range from $175 to $200, depending on how fast a driver is going.
In an email to News 5, Timberlake Police Chief Nick Dolbin said the addition of speed cameras is due to excessive speeding.
Police hope catching speeders will reduce the number of crashes.
In the same email, Dolbin shared data from a speed study conducted along Lakeshore Boulevard in January of this year.
In three days, close to 4,000 cars drove along that stretch.
Nearly seven out of ten drivers were traveling between 26 and 35 miles per hour, which is one to 10 miles over the speed limit.
Local company Targeting and Solutions Limited assisted the village with the speed camera installation.
The president, Trevor Elkins, is also the mayor of Newburgh Heights. News 5's Caitlin Hunt spoke with Elkins in May as he helped the village of East Canton install speed cameras.
RELATED: Village of East Canton installs speed cameras
According to Elkins, the village of Newburgh Heights installed speed cameras in 2013. Elkins said there has been a 25% decrease in excessive speeding in Newburgh Heights since the cameras were installed. He also said that's led to fewer severe crashes.
"If you're looking at a 25 miles per hour speed limit and going ten over," he said. "That's exceeding the speed limit more than 40%. That 10-mile-an-hour difference between a severe and/or fatal injury and a fender bender and a bruise."
Elkins also said speed cameras can help smaller municipalities with traffic control while also generating revenue.
Not everyone in Timberlake is on board.
News 5 spoke with resident Francesco Gjinplaku.
He said he doesn't think speed cameras are necessary because Timberlake is already actively patrolling the roads.
Gjinplaku said he sees police posted along the village's busiest roads every day, and he constantly sees them pulling over speeding drivers. While he thinks the cameras will make drivers more cautious, he believes police patrols are already doing their job.
"I think having speed cameras here is kinda disrespectful," he said. "Why do we need those there? There is so much traffic there that I don't think putting cameras there is the right thing. If they're going to speed, the cops will get them, and that will kind of even everything out."
