Red Light And Speed Camera Citations, Warnings Spike
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The number of citations and warnings issued by speed and red light cameras has spiked in Baltimore County after an expansion of both programs.
The number of red light camera citations and warnings more than tripled in the last 12 months, according to the county auditor's office.
In March the county issued 467 red light camera citations and warnings. That represents a 72 percent increase over the previous month and a more than 200 percent increase since April 2011, according to the auditor.
Red light camera violations carry a $75 fine.
The county estimates it will generate nearly $97,000 in net revenues from more than 2,200 paid red light cameras citations in the first year, which runs between February 2012 and January 2013. The program is expected to cost nearly $69,000 in that same period, according to the auditor.
Speed camera citations doubled in September 2011 compared to August 2011.
In September, the county issued 8,761 speed camera citations and warnings compared to 3,999 the previous month, according to the county auditor.
The bulk of the increase is attributed to the use of mobile cameras installed along South Rolling Road last fall. Those cameras have issued 11,658 citations between October and March.
In March, the county issued 6,914 speed camera warnings and citations—about an 18 percent increase over the last 12 months, according to the county auditor.
Speed camera citations are issued when motorists drive through a monitored school zone at more than 12 mph over the speed limit. The cameras are operational between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. even when schools are closed.
The county estimates that the speed camera program will cost slightly less than $1.1 million between February 2012 and January 2013 while generating slightly less than $1.2 million based on an expected 55,440 paid tickets, according to the auditor.
The County Council approved an expansion of the speed camera contract earlier this year.
Under the terms of the contract, ACS State and Local Solutions will help the county expand the county's speed and red light camera programs using mobile cameras.
Have you been caught by a red light or speed camera this year? What do you think about the sharp increase in tickets? Tell us in the comments.
Paul Amirault
7:28 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Let's see, vendor gets $1.1 million while County gets $100,000, I guess I wish i was in the camera business. Simply disgusting. Are you friggin' kidding me? Not about the money, huh?
William Metzner, Sr.
11:32 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Courts in a number of other states have ruled that speed-camera and red-light-camera citations are unconstitutional for violations of a number of constitutional provisions. Has no person or no group yet challenged the practice in Maryland? If not, why not?
M. Sullivan
9:14 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Because MD is the Sheeple State, where anything the government wants is OK.
Other Tim
6:21 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
I've never heard that. Can you tell me which states?
fred
6:23 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
arizona
Paul Amirault
11:39 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Stupid question for the County auditor. Why does 55,440 tickets generate "slightly" less than $1.2 million? That is a little over $21 per ticket? Or is the article wrong, the vendor gets 1.1 million and the County gets 1.2 million? Which is correct?
Michael
1:37 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
State law sets the cost of the speed camera violations at $40 per violation. 55,440 tickets generates a total of $2,217,600. If the vendor gets just under $1.1M, that leaves just under $1.2M for the county. So the article is right, just worded in a way that confuses the issue.
Jimmy
12:02 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The speed camera tickets cost $40.00. If they received payment for 55,440 tickets that took in $2,217,600.00. Sounds like a 50/50 split with the camera vendor. My question would be, who didn't pay their ticket. If a ticket goes unpaid, is a bench warrant issued the same as if a police officer issued it?
Tree
3:16 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
If you get a speeding ticket from a police officer and fail to pay the fine or fail to appear in court, your driver's license is suspended, no bench warrant is issued unless you get a ticket for driving on a suspended license and fail to appear. If you fail to pay a speed camera ticket, your registration is suspended through MVA and you can't renew your tags.
Paul Yeager
12:13 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
I have been caught a couple of times and each time I have contacted 311 and reported 3 or 4 problems in my neighborhood (pot hole, burned out street light, bent road sign, excessive trash on the street, overhanging tree limbs from public parks blocking sidewalks, etc.) Hey, if the city is going to get my money I am making sure it is spent in my neighborhood.
Tim
12:01 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
"The number of red light camera citations and warnings more than tripled in the last 12 months, according to the county auditor's office."
LOL, good job Baltimore County drivers. Keep on sucking at driving and crying about being penalized (not you, Mr. Yeager).
Also, you each have a turn signal lever attached to the left side of your steering column. Get off your phone and use it, before you Darwin yourselves into a life altering accident.
I almost got killed the other day commuting to work by some idiot on his phone swerving into my lane in a white minivan on 695. It's a good thing I was paying attention like I always do.
Re: Paul's comment - there you go. That's a good way to handle it.
Sean Colin
4:41 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
To Mr Sears,
I would have to assume that all those people running red lights and speeding, accidents must be through the roof. Do you have any numbers relating to accidents instead of revenue?
Bryan P. Sears
4:59 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
Sean: The last statistics we have for accidents in speed camera zones was published in 2011. The statistics provided by the Baltimore County Police Department at that time showed no statistical decrease in accidents. You can read my story here: http://towson.patch.com/articles/speed-cameras-less-speeding-same-accidents
Chief Jim Johnson told the council earlier this week that the speed camera program remains successful. That opinion appears to be based on his belief that fewer tickets written means fewer incidents of speeding in school zones and that is evidence of change behavior.
Hope that helps.
ZIG
10:00 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012
If 1 death or injury is prevented (particularly to children) it is worth it. Reisterstown streets are dangerous because of thoughtless violators. I would like to see cameras on every street with increased fines. I have seen a number of children injured on Chartley drive. It is not pretty. I have seen a speeder flip over across the street. I want these people off our roads