WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio — Willoughby Hills Police said speeding within city limits has gotten out of control. Studies conducted by the police department in partnership with the Ohio Department of Transportation found between I-90 and I-271 is one of the most speed-through areas in the state of Ohio.
If speeding on I-90 and 271, the Willoughby Hills Police Department is making it clear, you will get ticketed.
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“The data we collect on a monthly basis is just ridiculous,” said Chief Matthew Naegele, Willoughby Hills Police Department. “We have vehicles, hundreds of thousands of vehicles traveling in excess of 75, 80, 85, 90, upwards of 100 miles per hour over the speed limit.”
Naegele said just in the month of December, 1,000 cars were clocked going over 100 miles per hours between I-90 and I-271.
“To me, that’s just obnoxious,” said Naegele.
Naegele hopes a new handheld speed camera purchased by the city will help curb excessive speeding. Tickets will be mailed to residents and no points from the ticket will go on licenses. A court appearance will also not be required.
“We don’t have a ton of resources as far as personnel is concerned,” said Naegele. “We don’t have 50 officers out on the road dedicated to traffic enforcement. So, we had to come up with a viable solution that was going to help us address it and I think this is going to do that.”
Willoughby resident, Jeffery O’Bryan, hopes the police department targets only those who are well above the speed limit.
“I hope there’s some type of five to 10-mile grace period, like we have with police officers,” said O’Bryan. “Now, it’s when it gets the razor-thin margins of you’re going one over, .5 over or something. I think it depends on how strict they are with the limit and the number.”
O’Bryan also wants to see the fines collected by the city used wisely.
“Fix the roads, if it’s going to be collected from the roads make the roads better,” said O'Bryan.
Naegele said the money collected will go back to the city's general fund, which is sometimes used to improve roadways. He also wants residents to know that these cameras won’t deter his officers from normal traffic enforcement efforts.
“This is going to be an additional tool in our officers tool belt, but it’s not going to be the identity of our police department,” Naegele said. “Our officers are still going to be doing traditional traffic enforcement and all the things you expect a police officer to do.”
The ticketing just went into effect on Wednesday of last week. With the police department prioritizing transparency with the new speed checks, police will be out during busy times of the day like morning and evening rush hour.
