For the first time in 43 years, Dave Showalter can sit on his front porch on East Nassau Street in East Canton, Ohio, without the sound of speeding cars drowning out conversation. He says the change is striking.
"This would not have happened four months ago," Showalter said. "The noise would have been so loud we wouldn't be able to have this conversation."
Showalter gives the credit to the speed cameras the Village of East Canton installed in May. Since July 2026, the cameras have issued more than 16,000 speeding citations. "You feel a little more secure, a little more safety. Quiet. Oh my goodness! The amount of noise difference there is," he said.
Before the cameras went up, he said, speeding on the street was a serious and constant problem. He said he saw cars hit power poles and watched neighbors get rear-ended as they turned into their own driveways. For the past five years, he went to village council meetings and wrote letters to raise his concerns. Other solutions were proposed over that time, but Showalter said the cameras have worked best.
"Why would you not take an opportunity to correct a very serious problem with this technology?" he asked.
Not everyone agrees. The large number of citations has led some residents and customers to call for a boycott of the village, and local businesses have felt the effect. In September 2026, Dave Hunter, co-owner of Grandma Tammy's, described the impact on his business. "They love us. They love coming here, but they will not come back," Hunter said.
Showalter said a boycott was never what he wanted from the cameras. "We don't want people to boycott or hold these businesses hostage for our concern with safety," he said.
In his view, the goal has always been a simple one: getting drivers to respect the people who live along Nassau Street. From his porch, he can now watch motorists keep to the 35 mph speed limit. "We just want the people who drive through this community to respect this community," Showalter said.
