Possibly coming to a school zone near you: a speed camera

[UPDATE: The Baltimore Sun reports that Tuesday night the Baltimore County Council approved the plan to install speed cameras as mentioned below.]

Did your Labor Day include a robocall urging you to oppose the use of cameras to catch speeders in Baltimore County school zones? I got one of those, and I don’t even live in the county.

My knee(finger?)-jerk reaction to robocall messages is to quickly hit delete, which now prevents me from intelligently and responsibly passing along the name of the organization that made this one or exactly what it wanted. It did say that cops, not cameras, should be used for such enforcement, and that the public should make its feelings known today.

The Baltimore County Council is to vote on the plan at tonight’s meeting, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Last May the state government approved a bill authorizing counties and cities to set up cameras in highway work zones and school zones to catch speeders. The law takes effect Oct. 1.

The Baltimore County plan would target drivers going at least 12 mph over the speed limit. If approved, the law would take effect Oct. 1.

The main argument for setting up speed cameras is that they reduce dangerous driving. Arguments against them include that the money to set up and operate them could be better spent, that the cameras have a “Big Brother” aspect to them, and that they’re just another way for governments to take money from the public.

For the record: I got caught by a speed camera a few years in Washington while returning from an Orioles-Nationals baseball game. The citation arrived in the mail. Accompanying it was a grainy black-and-white photo of my car on a nearly empty avenue on a sunny late afternoon. I don’t remember what the speed limit was, how fast I was accused of going or the amount on the check I mailed to pay the fine.

FYI: The Federal Trade Commission ban on robocalls that took effect last week does not include political-minded messages, among other kinds of calls that I continue to get. But that’s a gripe for another day.