# New Rome, Ohio -- who knows a lot about it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 11, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-rome-ohio-who-knows-a-lot-about-it/472259 "2008-11-11T22:44:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-rome-ohio-who-knows-a-lot-about-it/472259/1 "2008-11-11T22:44:04Z")
This is a pretty curious story, isn’t it? For those who don’t know, New Rome, Ohio, established in 1947, gained notoriety by having an infamous speed trap. I don’t really know all the details, but the road, a two-lane thoroughfare, went from something like 45 MPH to 25 MPH for absolutely no reason. In the 2000 census, the population was 60. Aside from a few bars and fleabag hotels, there was very little and the town maintained its existence from these fraudulent tickets (there are people who claimed to have deliberately gone the speed limit but were still ticketed as there was little defense against them in this corrupt little corporation). It was dissolved by a judge’s order in 2004 and all outstanding traffic tickets were rescinded. What happened to the people that lived there? What is there now? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-rome-ohio-who-knows-a-lot-about-it/472259/2 "2008-11-11T22:54:32Z")
[The Wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Rome,_Ohio) is a good start. It was really small in area, with a population of 60, and a police force of 14 (mostly living outside the village), which supported itself on traffic fines. They were dissolved under an Ohio statute designed specifically for them (though in general terms), not just by a judge’s order. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-rome-ohio-who-knows-a-lot-about-it/472259/3 "2008-11-11T23:03:25Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > [The Wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Rome,_Ohio) is a good start. It was really small in area, with a population of 60, and a police force of 14 (mostly living outside the village), which supported itself on traffic fines. They were dissolved under an Ohio statute designed specifically for them (though in general terms), not just by a judge’s order. Yeah, I saw that. It’s a good summary, but I didn’t find anything it that tells us what things are like now or where all the village’s inhabitants ended up. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-rome-ohio-who-knows-a-lot-about-it/472259/4 "2008-11-11T23:12:08Z")
> [@DudleyGarrett](#): > > Yeah, I saw that. It’s a good summary, but I didn’t find anything it that tells us what things are like now or where all the village’s inhabitants ended up. I think you can assume that they all still live in their houses(all 27 of them) as the State simply dissolved the artificial boundaries of the three blocks which called themselves a “village.” The people reverted to living in the township which they had lived in previously. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-rome-ohio-who-knows-a-lot-about-it/472259/5 "2008-11-11T23:57:20Z")
Though a little old, (pre-dissolution decision), the [Car and Driver](http://www.caranddriver.com/features/all/2003/town_without_pity_feature/(page)/1) article is a good read and has lots more about the shady fines than the Wiki article. Examples: > [@](#): > > The real money comes from violations that elsewhere would likely merit a warning at most—no front license plate ($55), driving a commercial vehicle without a commercial plate ($105), driving with headsets ($90), with a cracked windshield ($55), with a chipped taillight ($55), without a rearview mirror ($55), with tinted windows ($105), with dirt or anything obscuring a license plate ($55), without a seatbelt ($60), with loud mufflers ($55), driving too slowly ($90), backing up improperly ($90), making an “unsafe” lane change ($90), stopping past the stop line ($90), no backup lights ($55), a dim bulb over the license plate ($55), making a U-turn ($90), tailgating ($90), and on and on. Pity the unsuspecting kid who hitchhikes ($135). And many pulled-over drivers wind up with multiple citations (no seatbelts on passengers and kids without safety chairs are typical ones). “Court costs” can be tacked on, and there’s a $13 charge for paying with a credit card. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-rome-ohio-who-knows-a-lot-about-it/472259/6 "2008-11-12T02:57:21Z")
Didn’t Old Rome institute some weird taxes and penalties as well. Maybe they thought that that was the divine thing to do or maybe they just got confused. At least they didn’t hang the offenders on crosses beside the road.