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.