Howard County Seeks Input on Speed Cameras and School Zones

Residents of Howard County will have the chance at the end of the month to tell public officials what they think of the school zone boundaries that will dictate where speed cameras could be placed in their neighborhoods.

Police officials said the speed cameras would be placed in Howard County school zones starting late this fall.

Howard County’s Department of Public Works, the entity responsible for establishing school zones where mobile speed cameras will be placed, will hold a meeting/workshop seeking public input from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 31, at the Dorsey Building, 9250 Bendix Road in Columbia.

The goal of the public meeting is not to discuss the cameras specifically, but rather to examine the boundaries of school zones within which the cameras will be placed. Howard County residents can ask questions or make suggestions for changing the boundaries, officials said.

Earlier this year, the Howard County Council approved legislation allowing the police department to deploy mobile speed monitoring camera units that will rotate among roads in county school districts.

In all,  the authority to purchase as many as eight cameras; at this time only two mobile cameras are being purchased, said Howard County spokesman Kevin Enright.

The speed camera decision came on the heels of a year-long study by the Howard County Police Department examining incidents of speeding vehicles inside school zones.

According to a county press release, “Sixty-six percent of the vehicles observed were traveling over the speed limit.”

Howard County Police Chief William McMahon said the department would likely begin deploying the mobile units following a 30-day warning period, which would begin in October.

He also said he believes the new cameras will help reduce the number of speeding vehicles on county roads.

“Certainly in those areas that we know there’s a problem, having those cameras there will allow us to affect more drivers’ behaviors,” he said. “When we have an officer there, that whole process of stopping a car and issuing a citation can take 15 to 20 minutes, so in an hour, you may only be affecting three or four people’s behavior, whereas with the cameras there’s potential to slow down way more people.”

McMahon declined to disclose estimated operating costs and projected revenue from the speed camera tickets, saying that it may impact the county’s dealings with speed monitoring camera vendors.

“It would be premature now with the bid process still being finalized,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to anything to jeopardize that at this point.”

Howard County is following a regional trend of increase ticketing in school zones. Prince George's County recently announced in schools zones over the next year. Residents had asked the county to slow down with the speed cameras until all equipment could be tested for accuracy.