Speed cam plan meets with skepticism from Maryland lawmakers

By KRISTEN WYATT
The Associated Press

1/16/2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A plan to install speed cameras along highway work zones across Maryland got a cool reception Tuesday from lawmakers, who said many motorists view the idea as a money trap, not a way to improve highway safety.

The Maryland Department of Transportation wants lawmakers to change state law to allow the speed cameras. Transportation Secretary John Porcari argued cameras would prove invaluable tools for improving highway worker safety and reducing speed-related accidents.

“I want to emphasize this is about safety — not a revenue measure,” Porcari told a House committee.

He said highway workers have little protection from speeding drivers.

“Sometimes we only have an orange cone between our highway workers and the motorists,” Porcari said.

A speed camera bill passed the Maryland Senate in 2003, but not the House. The cameras already are in use in parts of Montgomery County, Washington, D.C., and three other states — Illinois, Oregon and Washington. Maryland lawmakers don’t have a bill yet proposing the speed camera law, but Porcari said one is coming. It hasn’t yet been determined whether a speed camera ticket would put points on a driving record.

Transportation officials said the cameras are needed in Maryland because work zones often have no shoulders and narrow lanes — making traditional traffic stops impossible for police.

“It is necessary for us to try to address the speed of vehicles approaching these work zones,” said Neil Pedersen of the State Highway Administration.

But lawmakers brought up many objections, from privacy concerns to the perception that the cameras are simply an easy source of revenue for police departments.

“Some people have the sense that they are a cash cow,” said Delegate Saqib Ali, D-Montgomery.

Another Democrat said she worried that police may not keep the video cameras in top shape to accurately capture speed. Red light violations are an easy yes-or-no question, but Delegate Anne Healey questioned whether speeding would be equally appropriate for camera enforcement. She asked about the wisdom of giving police a monetary incentive to use inaccurate cameras.

“There’s a motivation there,” said Healey, D-Prince George’s.

Several lawmakers complained that road contruction projects last months or years with little observable progress, which explains why some motorists speed through them.

“That seems to work against the work zone being taken seriously,” she said.

Transportation officials replied that it can take up to four weeks for concrete to set, and that speed cameras would not be used unless there was a police officer on site and work was being done.

There were also fears that camera tickets could someday replace traditional traffic stops. House Republican Leader Anthony O’Donnell pointed out that many criminals are caught through routine traffic stops that reveal outstanding warrants.

“A lot of the benefits of having an officer stop,” O’Donnell said, “is we catch people in the net.”

Police officers who testified in favor of speed cameras said that the speed cameras would improve crime prevention, not hurt it, because officers could spend less time on roadsides monitoring work zones.

“Photo enforcement acts as a force multiplier,” said Lt. Ronald Smith of the Montgomery County Police Department, which uses speed cameras.

The transportation officials and the officers got a thorough grilling from lawmakers, but afterward they said they were making headway persuading lawmakers to sign off on using the cameras.

“As the decision-makers become more familiar with the safeguards and the procedures, the more comfortable they’ll get with the fairness of the process,” said Hyattsville Police Chief Douglas Holland.