Cameras catch more than 15,000 local speeders

Cameras mounted in school and construction zones around the Baltimore area have produced more than 15,000 speeding tickets since mid-November, yet transportation officials are reluctant to say whether the pilot program has prompted lead-footed drivers to slow down.

“The proof is going to be in the numbers and right now, there is no way to tell,” said David Buck, spokesman for the State Highway Administration, which has sent two mobile speed cameras in SUVs roving to three construction sites on Interstates 95 and 695 since Nov. 16.

Buck said the SHA cameras logged about 8,900 speeding citations between Nov. 16 and Dec. 29 at three sites: I-95 near construction of the Intercounty Connector in Prince George’s County; I-95 near the White Marsh toll road construction site; and construction at I-695 at North Charles Street.

Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 15, there were 8,081 warning citations sent to drivers from those sites, Buck said. But the cameras weren’t operating during heavy snowfall in mid-December and other bad weather, he said.

Fine, but no points

All tickets are a result of two snapshots from the cameras. The tickets carry a $40 fine; no points are levied against a driver’s license, Buck said.

The tickets are mailed to the owner of registered vehicles photographed exceeding the posted speed limit by 12 mph or more after Maryland State Police and Maryland Transportation Authority police check the photos.

Transportation officials began installing the speed cameras in October after the General Assembly passed legislation making them legal in school and construction zones pending support of local government. In 2008, 11 people died in work-zone crashes in Maryland.

Each speed camera site is marked with cautionary signs, and a backup photo is taken for each ticket in case there is a dispute. Drivers may protest the citations in District Court.

The cameras first started shooting pictures Oct. 1, resulting in only warning citations for the first six weeks.

In Baltimore, 26 cameras were set up in school zones on Nov. 2 and have produced 6,238 citations through Jan. 7, said Adrienne Barnes, spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation. Those citations will net the city $48,200.

“Our first priority is safety and we want people to be mindful of their speed,” Barnes said of the new program, which has raised protests from drivers on local talk radio who criticize it as intrusive.

To that, Barnes said, “If you slow down, you don’t have to worry. Our goal is to change driver behavior like with the red-light cameras.”

City considers more cameras

Barnes said city traffic engineers are researching additional sites to place 20 more cameras, some mobile, in school and construction zones in Baltimore in the upcoming months. The state legislation allows for 52 cameras per jurisdiction.

The city’s most lucrative speed camera site is a school zone at Erdman Avenue and Macon Street in East Baltimore. There, 3,985 speeding citations had been issued between Nov. 2 and Jan. 8, Barnes said. The cameras are turned on from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in school zones.

Overall, Barnes said, the city didn’t have any expectations about how much revenue the tickets would bring in, although city officials have said they expect to collect an additional $7.1 million from speeding fines this year. Under an agreement with the speed camera operator, Affiliated Computer Services, of Dallas, Baltimore gets 65 percent of the money collected from the tickets, while ACS receives 35 percent.

“We plan to assess the whole program in the spring,” Barnes said.

That’s also the SHA’s plan for speed cameras.

“We had no parameters or bottom line about how well this program would work other than six weeks of warning citations that were issued,” Buck said. “As for now, there is no way to tell if the speed cameras are working because it’s very subjective.”

Melody Simmons is a freelance writer based in Baltimore.