About Baltimore County Speed Cameras

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Speed Cameras

From 2005 through 2007 there were 1,794 speed-related traffic accidents within a half-mile radius of public and non-public schools in Baltimore County, excluding major highways. The purpose and the goal of the speed camera program in Baltimore County is to increase public safety by reducing the number of those crashes. We want to make sure our children can make it to their schools and home again safely.

Reducing Crashes and Saving Lives

Studies have shown that speed cameras can make a difference by reducing crashes. Evaluating a program in British Columbia that involved 30 cameras, researchers found a seven percent decline in crashes, a 10 percent decline in daytime crash injuries, and up to 20 percent fewer deaths during the first year cameras were used.*



Researchers in Montgomery County measured traffic speeds approximately six months before and six months after camera enforcement began in May 2007. The proportion of vehicles traveling more than 10 mph above posted limits fell by 70 percent on roads where cameras were operational and by 39 percent on roads with signs warning of enforcement but where cameras were not yet in place.**

The goal of the Baltimore County speed camera program is to experience similar reductions. When we cut the number of speed-related crashes in areas around schools, we protect our children.

The Baltimore County Safe Speed program will begin with 12 cameras posted in locations in the County that have the highest number of speed-related crashes. Those locations will be chosen by an analysis of crash data and site visits by trained traffic specialists from the Police Department. Once the locations are chosen, the cameras will be in operation Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. Violators will receive a civil citation and a $40 fine. Since these violations are being treated as civil, not criminal, offenses there will be no points assigned to licenses and insurance providers will not be notified of the violation.

The Police Department did not make the decision to implement this program lightly. The department receives numerous requests from citizens asking the department to do more to slow down speeding vehicles. In fact, the department receives more calls on this issue than any other.

The cameras will be a force multiplier for the Baltimore County Police Department. Their presence will allow officers to focus on other public safety challenges. As a result, the County will be able to focus additional resources on other problems, without hiring additional personnel or increasing taxes.

The cameras will not be hidden from drivers. Enforcement zones will be published on the Police Department’s web site and signs will be posted in areas where the cameras are being used. Vehicles traveling above the legal and safe speed will be photographed to document the violation. The photographs will then be processed and the license plate will be reviewed to identify the registered owner. The owner will then be sent the citation, which will include copies of the violation photos and the recorded vehicle speed.

http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/police/speedcameras/aboutspeed.html

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Baltimore Spokes
https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20090907133856685