Speed Cameras Making Streets Safer
(Copyright 2008 by WTOP Radio. All Rights Reserved.)
Adam Tuss, WTOP Radio
ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Speed cameras in Montgomery County have caught more than 111,000 lead-foot drivers since they were put in place last spring -- and one county official says it's making the streets safer.
"People really have noticed that drivers are slowing down," County Police Chief Tom Manger tells WTOP.
The county began using mobile and fixed-position cameras in early May of last year. All of the photo enforcement is taking place in either school zones or residential zones where the speed limit is no greater than 35 miles per hour.
During a seven month period between May of 2007 and the end of the year, those thousands of tickets have generated about $2.6 million for the county. Yet Manger says the program has yet to break even.
"There were some (start up) costs and those sort of things, so the program has not paid for itself."
Montgomery County Police tells WTOP the actual cost of the speed camera program was $3.5 million. Once that mark is hit, by statute, any revenue has to go back toward traffic safety initiatives in the county.
Yet Manger says the real proof of the program is that drivers are lowering their speed. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety will put out a report by the end of the month that studied certain roadways in the county, pre and post cameras.
"It is going to cite some very dramatic statistics. What they found is a 70 percent decline in the number of vehicles speeding on these roadways," says Manger. "I think that is just staggering in terms of the impact that photo speed enforcement has had on driver behavior."
And Manger is promising even more speed cameras in the county.
"We are adding more and more fixed sites, that is that the cameras are on fixed poles. Right now we have 14 of those sites up. We are moving toward having about 30 of those sites when we are ultimately done."
Manger disputes claims that the county is trying to make money off the program, saying drivers are being told exactly where the cameras are being set up.
The fines for drivers going more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit is currently $40 in the county.
"I think we are making an impression on the drivers," says Manger.
"Whether it is the $40 a pop every time they get caught, or whether it's just all the signs and the education campaign we are doing. Frankly I don't really care what is motivating them. What I'm pleased about is that drivers are slowing down, they are doing the speed limit, and we are seeing a reduction in the number of crashes on some roadways that have been historically very dangerous."
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