A blog for Optotraffic
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May 13:  Like everyone else we appreciate compliments. In particular we like hearing from our law enforcement partners, such as this note we recently received from the Police Chief in New Miami, Ohio.

“We chose Optotraffic to help our modest police department enhance the safety of our Village. Yet, with their assistance and expertise, we not only have accomplished that goal but we have achieved an unanticipated culture of safety in our entire community. We simply could not have done that without them.”

Thanks, Chief!

Here at Optotraffic, we often talk about our partnership with law enforcement and we’re very proud of those relationships. But we also work with municipalities that have no police force. Following is a note we received from the town of Lucas, Ohio that says it better than we could.

“As a small town without a police force, Optotraffic fit our needs perfectly. We were facing a significant speeding problem, which was in turn creating a public safety hazard and putting our citizens at risk. As a result of Optotraffic’s camera systems, we were finally able to address the problem and enforce a safe speed limit in our community.

Optotraffic was able to customize their programs to fit our needs as a smaller town, and walked us through each step, making the process simple and straightforward. Since installing the cameras, we have seen a dramatic reduction in unsafe speeding. Local parents whose children walk to school were vocal supporters of the idea, and are very happy with the results.

The additional revenue from the citations has led us to consider funding and implementing our own police force, allowing us to further traffic safety measures as well as deter crime, thus making the town even safer for our residents.”

March 20:  Optotraffic is the major U.S. based automated speed enforcement company, but we keep an eye out for happenings in other countries.  Recently, the national police force in Ireland released a nation-wide study of the effectiveness of its speed camera program. Specifically they tracked the occurrence of crashes in “high-risk zones.”  Thirty percent of crashes resulted in fatalities in these zones before speed cameras were deployed.  After deployment, that percentage fell to 17.  The police estimate that this drop resulted in 26 lives being saved.

January 30:  Optotraffic offers the most sophisticated technology in Automated Speed Enforcement, designed initially for the U.S. space program. But we do not rely solely on technology – no matter how advanced. In fact, before a traffic citation is issued four different individuals must review the violation in the Optotraffic process:

1. After a speed violation occurs, a photo is taken of the speeding car. At that point, an Optotraffic technician reviews the photo to make sure there is a clear photo of the license plate.

2. The photo is then sent to a second person who views the photo in more detail to make sure that there is in fact a violation and no extenuating circumstances. That reviewer then requests ownership information from the appropriate state department of motor vehicles.

3. When ownership information is returned, the photo is again reviewed by a third individual who double checks that there is a violation and the description of the vehicle from the DMV matches the vehicle in the photo.

4. Finally – and most importantly – a sworn police officer reviews the photo and ownership information yet again before he or she issues a citation.

 

December 6:  Maryland Police Chiefs do a great job of support the Special Olympics each year. Optotraffic was proud to support this effort at the recent annual meeting of the Chiefs.  The police are our partners in law enforcement and we are glad to extend that partnership through this important program.

November 12:  When Prince George’s County, Maryland police had issued one million citations using the Optotraffic speed camera solution, we thought it would be a good time to take a look at court records.  Only 0.51 percent of the million citations were contested in court and of that number only 0.04 percent of those citations were not upheld by judges—primarily for hardship reasons.

October 15:  Optotraffic’s equipment is a major public safety tool in Prince George’s County, Maryland and, of course, accuracy is paramount for an automated speed enforcement system.  During the first year of deployments, more than 2500 calibration verification tests were conducted by police measuring the Optotraffic equipment against calibrated radar guns and calibrated speedometers in police vehicles.  In all tests before enforcement begins all three measurements must be within plus/minus one mile-per-hour of each other.  That’s accurate!

May 21:  Prince George’s County police have had enough.  They are tired of leading the state in traffic fatalities.  The department launched a program called “Take 30 for Traffic” that designates target areas for enforcement with heightened police presence.  Optotraffic is part of that effort.  The police tell us where to deploy our equipment and that’s exactly what we do.

April 19:  Optotraffic’s primary partner in traffic safety is local law enforcement.  Every day we work closely with local police to make the most of their scarce resources.  The advertisement seen here is currently running in Police Chief Magazine.  We believe it succinctly describes our partnership. To view our ad click here.

April 2:  Optotraffic is currently deploying the largest array of portable speed cameras in the U.S. in Prince George’s County, Maryland.  We were pleased to see more dramatic proof that our cameras reduce speeding in school zones. The Police Department reports that in a comparison of a dozen deployments in January and February this year, speeding citations fell an average of 42.58 percent; from a low of 19 percent to a high of 75 percent!  When drivers know that speed cameras are present, they simply slow down and that’s good for the school kids, crossing guards and the entire community.