Montgomery County’s automated cameras take a picture of a possible speeder about once every 40 seconds, according to a recent monthly tally obtained by The Examiner.
And there will likely be a lot more pictures taken in coming days as the county increases the number of fixed cameras it operates from 30 to 60. As of March 21, the county had 49 fixed-place cameras spread throughout the county.
“We’re going full tilt,” said Capt. John Damskey, the director of the Montgomery County Police Traffic Division.
The devices have provoked the ire of many. A newly formed group is seeking to repeal a new state law that will expand the use of cameras to school and work zones statewide.
“It’s an unfair tax,” said state Sen. Alex Mooney, R-Frederick, an outspoken critic of speed cameras. Mooney said Montgomery County uses the cameras as a “cash cow” rather than as a legitimate speeding deterrent.
Daniel Zubairi, a Bethesda-based businessman and former Republican congressional candidate who formed the group Maryland for Responsible Enforcement, said antipathy toward speed cameras spanned all types of people. “This is man versus machine, man versus big brother and man versus a backdoor tax scheme,” he said.
Poolesville resident April Leese said she’d rather the county raise money through speed cameras than raise taxes, but said she has mixed feelings about the program overall. “Particularly when I get caught,” said Leese, who has been nabbed twice by the cameras, “I don’t like it a lot.”
But Damskey said the speed camera program has been effective in reducing speeds and preventing accidents, even in areas where drivers have been speeding as a matter of habit for decades. “The impact is meaningful, permanent change,” he said.
Not every picture taken results in a $40 ticket being issued. Each picture has to be reviewed by police to make sure it clearly shows a vehicle going 11 miles an hour or more over the speed limit. Comparable county data shows the police approve about two-thirds of the pictures taken.
Proponents of the program say the cameras give plenty of leeway to most drivers, and point out that the cameras only take pictures of less than 1 percent of the vehicles that pass by.
County Executive Ike Leggett’s proposed budget assumes the increases in cameras will generate a total of $28,797,610 during the next fiscal year, meaning the county will have to issue almost 720,000 new tickets to reach that amount.
The money generated will be used to help pay for the police department’s gang unit and family crimes division.
