ROCKVILLE — The Montgomery County council on Tuesday unanimously approved a $1.9 million appropriation to expand the county’s speed camera program.
“Speed cameras are an important tool in our [speed enforcement] arsenal,” council prez Phil Andrews (D-District 3) told his colleagues before putting it to a vote. ”They free up officers to investigate other crimes. They’re effective.”
With the extra cash pumped into the program, speed demons can expect to smile for an additional 30 cameras mounted all over the county, doubling the total number of speed cameras to 60. That doesn’t include the MCPD’s six mobile speed-cam units, or cameras run by Chevy Chase, Rockville and Gaithersburg city governments.
Currently, Silver Spring’s central business district has zero speed cams (not that anyone’s tearing shit up at rush hour on Colesville Road). However, there are a few mounted nearby along Piney Branch Road between Philadelphia and Sligo Avenues, and on Wayne Avenue between Dale Drive and Mansfield Road.
“We’re not saying you have to do the speed limit,” council member Marc Elrich (D-At large) said. Speed cameras don’t snap pics unless the fast and furious are hauling at least 11 mph over the posted speed limit, he indicated.
“We’re saying you have a 10-mph margin of error. It’s important to have this policy,” Elrich added.
The $1.9 million check falls short of the $2.9 million tab pitched by MoCo exec Ike Leggett. But after hardcore number crunching between legislative analysts and MCPD reps, bean counters discovered a cash surplus in the existing speed-cam program.
According to council documents, the PD previously predicted to haul in $14.8 million in speed-cam fines, but as of Jun 22, 2009, the cameras have nabbed $17.7 million in fines. That’s an extra $3 million in revenue, and reason enough for the council to cut a smaller check.
The speed-cam program’s primary goal is to change drivers’ nasty habits, like hauling ass through school zones, the legislation suggests. Per state law, money brought in must be used to improve pedestrian safety issues in the county.
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A correction to Penguin’s last paragraph:
“The speed-cam program’s primary goal is to squeeze more money out of over-taxed, over-regulated Montgomery County residents. The money will be used to give fat-ass raises to Montgomery County government officials and the police union.”
That’s better!
-IHY-
I hate that d@mn speed camera on Wayne, she is my nemesis.
How much of the revenue these generate goes back to the speed camera manufacturers? There’s no cut off the top, is there, like those red light cameras in DC??
I hear speeding around schools is fun? (Both the cameras on Wayne and the one on Piney Branch are in school zones.)
Recently, I’ve been having the pleasure of driving around a camera in Montgomery Village where everyone slows down to 5mph “just in case”. I am thankful for the relative smarts of southern MoCo drivers.
The county needs the money to fund the ambulance service we provide free of charge to PG County and District residents.
Drivers should not speed. Some of the $ should go toward both red and green arrows for bad intersections. Drivers and Peds need abundant clarity on who can move when. Wayne & Fenton is bad, as is Silver Spring & Ga. Don’t even get me started on Bonifant & Ga. But there are some majorly ugly intersections upcounty, on strees like Bel Pre Road. Ever try to cross Conn. Ave. to get to the Aspen Hill shopping center? I did, turned my ankle and nearly fell in front of what felt like a bunch of Indy 500 drivers.
We need more speed cameras and fewer speed humps. Cameras penalize the guilty; speed humps inconvenience everyone, including people going at or below the speed limit.
But we also need to be sure the speed limits are reasonable before installing the cameras. 30 mph on 6-lane wide Connecticut Avenue south of E-W Highway is ridiculous and seems to be set up to raise funds, not measurably increase safety.
Speed cameras are very effective at making people slow down for 1/4 of a mile. They do not change overall driving habits. Far from being effective, I believe they make the road more dangerous. Many times I have been behind someone, both of us going the speed limit, when the person suddenly spots the cameras and slams on the breaks even though they weren’t speeding. The one on Randolf Road is particularly dangerous for this due to the bends in the road.