June 18 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Motorists are being warned to drive very carefully when traveling through the ‘Buckeye State’, especially since a new ruling took place which gives police officers the right to issue a speeding ticket based on his or her “estimated guess” (or as some called it “guesstimation”) of the driver’s speed.

Radar and laser readings are still considered to be the preferred method of reading a driver’s speed, however, with a 5-1 ruling, the state’s high court decided that “a police officer’s unaided visual estimation of a vehicle’s speed is sufficient” according to the ‘Detroit News’ “as long as the officer is sufficiently trained and experienced in estimating speeds.”

And apparently, Ohio is not the only state with such a ruling in place. In Michigan, for example, they have a similar law, according to Sgt. Doug Topolski, traffic safety officer for the Dearborn Police Department. “It’s the Basic Speed Law and it means that you have to drive in a manner that is safe for the existing road conditions.”

Topolski goes on to say, “It often calls for a subjective analysis on the part of the officer, but there are already all kinds of traffic violations in which we have to make subjective calls, like following too closely.” But officers must be trained in accuracy. “They have a program you have to pass to make sure you can make the call reasonably accurately,” said Topolski.

It is not clear how many states have similar laws in place, but perhaps, before speeding of to work on Monday, readers may wish to check their state laws, and their speedometers.