Residents and business owners clashed with police officials from agencies throughout Prince George’s County on Tuesday during a public hearing over a plan to roll out 100 speed cameras in jurisdictions throughout the county.
The county council approved legislation that would allow for the speed cameras in November 2009 but did not act on it until County Executive Rushern L. Baker (D) issued a letter encouraging members to move forward with the plan.
Legislation for the cameras required the council to have a public hearing first and to establish a 21-member citizens advisory committee, composed mostly of residents, to decide where the cameras would be planned.
But during Tuesday’s public hearing in Upper Marlboro, residents and business owners demanded that the council put the brakes on rolling out cameras without testing the equipment for accuracy. The cameras will be placed at locations over the next year.
William Foreman owns an auto parts store in Oxon Hill and told the council that his drivers received more than five tickets while driving along Indian Head Highway/Route 210, which has a speed camera for the town of Forest Heights. He said the cameras were inaccurately recording speeds for vehicles, a claim he was successfully able to defend in court for five of his tickets with the use of photos.
“I am not opposed to speed cameras,” he said. “I am opposed to speed cameras that wrongly accuse people of speeding.”
Richard Ladieu of Lanham drives a truck for the University of Maryland College Park and was able to get tickets he received along Paint Branch Parkway thrown out in court.
“They’re not accurate. It’s nothing but extortion .… You guys are implementing a law that’s unconstitutional,” he said before storming out of the hearing room.
Still, law enforcement officials from Hyattsville, College Park, Forest Heights and Seat Pleasant praised the cameras for significantly reducing collisions and getting drivers to slow down near school zones.
Prince George's Police Maj. Robert Liberati said the speed cameras are operated by an outside contractor but are checked frequently by police. He called Foreman and Ladieu’s evidence “irrelevant” because photos cannot accurately record a vehicle’s speed.
Councilman Obie Patterson (D-Dist. 8) of Fort Washington asked how police can justify cases being thrown out in court if the equipment is accurate.
Councilwoman Mary Lehman (D-Dist. 1) of Laurel asked why only vendors maintain the cameras if there are disputes over accuracy.
“You have the fox watching the hen house," she said. "That makes no sense.”
Officers said the court systems have not been properly educated on speed camera technology, which allows for probable doubt when tickets are being disputed. Officer John O’Connor of Seat Pleasant Police said he frequently checks the accuracy of speed cameras and they have reduced fatalities and lightened workloads for officers.
“The cameras have significantly reduced [speeding],” he said. “The speed cameras work. They’re outstanding.”
Some residents also welcome the cameras as a deterrent to cars speeding along roads that were not built to handle a large traffic flow.
George Kanellos of Upper Marlboro told the council that he’s seen an increase of accidents near his residence along South Osborne Road. He has repeatedly asked the county to install speed bumps, or even a street mirror that would allow him to exit his driveway safely.
“Naturally, what started as a county road has become a major thoroughfare,” he said. “It’s a shame when you can’t get out of your own driveway.”
THIS STINKS OF nothing more than a revenue scam. The reality is that it doesn't stop dangerous drivers for it DOESN'T pull them over. What speed scameras do is send bills out. Most for techincal fouls. And though they might be using 12 mph over today, THEY WILL TRIGGER SPEEDS. In places like the UK they are down to 3 mph trigger speeds. http://www.banthecams.org/201106011282/UK-Are-Speed-Awareness-Courses-becoming-just-another-scam-UK-issuing-3-mph-speeding-tickets.html Tell you what, LET YOUR RESIDENTS VOTE! COME ON, what are you afriad of! Fight the sCAM! Ban the CAMS! www.motorists.org www.banthecams.org www.camerafraud.com www.bhspi.org and check out MD http://stopbigbrothermd.org
Regardless of whether we believe the law is there for our safety or just to make money, we live in this country and have the obligation to abide by its laws. Speed limit means maximum speed allowed (not minimum acceptable speed) - we should all feel lucky if there is even a 3-mph-excess allowed before a ticket is issued (if that is, indeed, the case), because legally we're not allowed to go over the limit at any point, for any reason - intentional or not. I drive past three cameras twice a day (driving at, not below, the speed limit - according to my speedometer), and I've never been ticketed. Although this doesn't mean that some other cameras (or others' speedometers) aren't accurately calibrated, it does suggest that there is a simple, pro-active approach we all can use to avoid being ticketed - just don't speed! (it is elegantly simple, isn't it?) Imagine a College Park where nobody sped. Then there would be no need for speed cameras, and they'd all go away - and you'd win. That'd show 'em! I do agree that residents should vote: go vote to raise speed limits if you think they're set too low. Then the law will be on your side.
I still don't understand why speed cameras are a big issue: driving is a privilege, not a right. As residents of the US, we are obliged to follow the established laws. If you don't like driving past speed cameras, take a different route. If you don't like getting speeding tickets, just don't speed. Better that the affected individuals (speeders) take these measures than to enact a law change (i.e. raising speed limits) that affects everybody's safety.
i certainly don't have the right to speed or break any other laws, but must that also mean that i don't have the right to drive? that seems like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/pub/hs809012.html The right solution, of course, is engineering. But if that's too expensive, aren't speed cameras an allowable solution?
@Danny & @Paul: your arguments seem to be more about the speed limit, then, not so much about the cameras, which are just enforcing the speed limits. It sounds like you'd like free-for-all speeds on any downhill? Just let your car coast down at whatever speed? That's clearly the most fuel-efficient approach to setting speed limits. I'm also unsure whether "most speed cameras are downhill." Of the four I drive past daily, only one is on a hill, and that one is at the top of the hill (it used to be halfway down, but was later moved to the top of the hill, which counters your point). @Paul: I, too, wonder about why Rt 1 goes from 35 to 40 mph between University Blvd and the beltway (mostly I wonder about that when I'm behind somebody who didn't notice the increase in limit ;) Is it just a historical artifact, or is there some property of that point on Rt 1 that allows the limit to be increased according to whatever codes dictate speed limits?
other pettiness: CP's eastbound camera on metzerott in the spot where the limit is reduced from 40 to 30 mph, in a location with no sidewalks and no pedestrian traffic. why not closer to 193, where there are sidewalks, pedestrians, churches, and student housing? not even to mention the route 1 cameras south of hyattsville... the speed limit changes so many times between the DC line and route 1 that it's ridiculous to expect drivers to adjust to each zone... and of course the camera is in the zone with the lowest speed limit.
if coasting down a hill is the only law i break, then i consider myself a good citizen. if everyone else could say the same thing, perhaps we'd be better off as a society. if only there were camera technology to automatically fine litterers, those who spit or urinate on the sidewalk, those who blast their car radios with the windows down, those who soup up their cars in a loud and disruptive manner, those who sell things roadside without a license, those who smoke too close to building entrances, those who drive with non-working brake lights, those who eat and drink on the metro, etc. each of these infractions is more harmful to civil society, in my humble opinion, than coasting down a hill on a 6-lane major commuter route. and sure, if the cameras were set at a higher limit on NH avenue at the bottom of the hill, i'd be happier. but why not just position the cameras on a flat stretch? what's the value added to school-zone pedestrian safety of putting the cameras at the bottom of a hill?
Do you so vehementy decry the unfairness of a parking ticket as they too are issued to the OWNER of the heicle and not necessarily the individual who parked the car in violation. Contrary to your rant, speed cameras are not unconstitutional at any level. Liek a parking ticket, the owner of the vehcile determined to be in violation is notified of the violation; they are then given the opportunity to dispute the ticket in court (due process); and if they were not the person behind the wheel at the time the violation was committed, they can provide the court with the true violators name, and the citation will be re-issued to that person. Bottom line is, you are in total control. Don't speed (even though you're allowed 12 miles over the limit) and you won't receive a ticket.