Cyemm

Dyer Streets: Cones block school zone speed signs

Signs don't follow state posting guides

By Bob Dyer
Ohio Beacon Journalist columnist

Wouldn't you love to have their deadlines?

On Sept. 18, the Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments for and against Cop-in-the-Box systems like the one Akron is using in school zones.

Four months have passed, and not one peep.

Meanwhile, another 50 billion speeding tickets have been mailed out. And somewhere along the way, a new wrinkle emerged in the spirited dust-up between the Everyday Driver and the city of Akron.

The people operating the speed cameras have taken to placing a plastic construction-type cone directly in front of each warning sign.

Not next to the sign. Not towering behind the sign. Rather, smack-dab in front of the sign, hiding some of the words!

Even in the best of circumstances, those signs are difficult to see. They are small, white rectangles with black lettering placed on a folding stand on the sidewalk, low to the ground. All other traffic signs — stop signs, speed limit signs, directional signs, whatever — are much higher. That's where drivers have been trained to look.

In fact, Ohio law specifically addresses the height of traffic-control signs:

''Signs installed at the side of the road in rural districts shall be at least 5 feet, measured from the bottom of the sign to the near edge of the pavement. (In urban areas), the clearance to the bottom of the sign shall be at least 7 feet.''

In other words, if these were real signs, rather than just a PR sham, the signs would be illegal — even without the cones blocking them.

Another problem is the wording: ''Photo enforcement zone ahead.''

Now, if you notice the sign at all, down on the ground, behind the cone, and if you can instantly figure out what ''photo enforcement zone'' means, you would definitely slow down to 20 mph, keeping our children safe. But most drivers don't notice the signs, and most drivers couldn't tell you what a ''photo enforcement zone'' is without giving it some thought.

So the $100 tickets keep flowing. And the people at Nestor who run the program keep getting $19 for every ticket they can sell. You don't think they want to send out as many tickets as possible?

If the city's primary goal is truly to slow people down (which city officials keep saying), rather than to make money (like most of the rest of us keep saying), then these people would be told to erect big, colorful signs, up off the ground, that say, ''SPEED CAMERA AHEAD.''

And you certainly wouldn't hide them behind plastic cones.

We're not talking about a one-time blunder by a clumsy worker in a hurry. Last week, cones were placed directly in front of signs at both ends of the speed zone in front of Hope Academy on South Arlington Street. And a week earlier, the same thing was evident at the new Resnik school on West Market Street.

Robert Noland, an officer in the Akron Police Department's traffic bureau, says Nestor has been using the cones in an attempt to draw more attention to the tiny signs.

OK, but why would Nestor put them directly in front of the signs?

''Who knows?'' he responds. ''Who knows?

''The city's trying to do everything to be fair to people. They put the signs out — that's not required. Then they put cones out so people could see the signs. But if you put the cone in front of the sign, you can't see the sign.''

He said he would pass the word to Nestor to move the cones to the side.

Duh. Apparently, the company has been hiring chimps.

As for raising the signs off the ground, that's up to the city. And the city is not likely to spend a dime on this issue until the Supreme Court justices finish their homework.

Until then, somebody should put a lens cap over these things.