Speed Cameras

In theory, Americans have the fundamental right to confront their accuser. But what if the accuser is an inanimate camera lens? It is difficult to cross-examine a photograph. As a community, we have generally decided that speed cameras have value, particularly in school zones where all else has failed. The wellbeing of our children tops all. And if speed cameras slow down the flow of traffic and make them safer, they have our support. Of course there are a whole lot of issues involving speed cameras that transcend safety, the most obvious being revenue.

It's been about two months since automated speed cameras went live in school zones around the city of Hagerstown, and preliminary figures show that speeding in those areas has begun to decrease, according to city officials. “The early results are better than expected,” Hagerstown Police Capt. Mark Holtzman said Friday. Compared with traffic data collected by the city's engineering department before cameras were installed, police expected to see about an 80 percent drop in speeding violations, but results have been better in some locations, he said.

Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith this week suggested 15 school zones where cameras could be installed to catch speeding motorists. Smith outlined the locations at a Tuesday night work session of the Hagerstown City Council, which last month voted to introduce an ordinance that would provide for the use of speed cameras. The selected spots are those where police officers have observed or have received reports of speeding, Smith told the council. The goal is to improve safety for children as they travel to and from school for classes or school-related functions, he said.

Hagerstown's first speed cameras were installed Tuesday morning along Northern Avenue at Crofton Road in the area of Fountaindale Elementary School. Members of the Hagerstown Police Department and Brekford - the company contracted to provide the cameras as part of the Hagerstown Automated Speed Enforcement Program - attended the camera kickoff. “Public safety is very important to us,” Hagerstown police Capt. Mark Holtzman said. “It's been a longtime initiative of the police department to try and reduce the speed around the schools.” A 30-day warning period began on Tuesday for motorists, Holtzman said.

Speed cameras that were installed last month on Northern Avenue between Fountaindale Elementary and Northern Middle schools in Hagerstown will go live Monday. The cameras were installed and activated March 13 to give motorists a 30-day warning period, according to a city news release. Beginning at 6 a.m. Monday, vehicles traveling 12 mph or more above the speed limit will be issued a $40 citation. That amount will be reduced to $35 if the fine is paid within 10 days of the ticket being mailed.

The Hagerstown City Council Tuesday evening unanimously approved the introduction of ordinances that would designate school speed-camera zones and approve a loan to buy larger recycling bins for city residents. The five-member council approved the introduction of an ordinance that establishes citywide school zones, which was first presented by Police Chief Arthur Smith last Tuesday. The school zone ordinance would establish speed limits at more than a dozen locations near Hagerstown schools that could be sites for new speed-monitoring cameras.

ANNAPOLIS -- State lawmakers have lost in their attempt to exclude Washington County from a bill allowing speed cameras in school and work zones. The House of Delegates voted 94-41 on Friday to approve the Senate's version of the bill to crack down on speeders by imposing $40 fines. The House defeated by a vote of 86-43 an amendment offered by Del. Christopher B. Shank to exclude Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties from the legislation. Shank, R-Washington, and Del. Richard B. Weldon Jr., who is unaffiliated and represents parts of Washington and Frederick counties, voted for the amendment.

ANNAPOLIS -- An effort by state lawmakers to exclude Washington County from a law allowing speed cameras to ticket drivers has failed, but they are expected to try again today. Washington County's delegation announced Wednesday they hoped to exclude the county from the bill. Del. Andrew A. Serafini, R-Washington, offered an amendment to the bill in committee that would have excluded Washington County, but that amendment failed. A similar amendment to the bill, drafted by Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr., R-Allegany/Washington, likely will be offered on the House floor today.

In theory, Americans have the fundamental right to confront their accuser. But what if the accuser is an inanimate camera lens? It is difficult to cross-examine a photograph. As a community, we have generally decided that speed cameras have value, particularly in school zones where all else has failed. The wellbeing of our children tops all. And if speed cameras slow down the flow of traffic and make them safer, they have our support. Of course there are a whole lot of issues involving speed cameras that transcend safety, the most obvious being revenue.

The company that provides speed cameras to the City of Hagerstown will pay $27,100 in refunds to 713 motorists who paid citations from three cameras that were not certified under the guidelines mandated by state law. Hagerstown Police Chief Mark Holtzman said Wednesday that the problem came to the attention of police on Monday, when a Washington County District Court judge threw out three citations that were issued in January to the same vehicle by...

First, let me offer the regular disclaimers: 1). My wife is a Washington County Commissioner; 2). I was a paid advocate for a company that sold photo enforcement systems. That advocacy ended in January 2012. I still absolutely support photo enforcement of speed limits in school and construction zones. Well, it had to happen. Several people have said it verbally and finally someone put it in writing. The following written comment appeared under a Herald-Mail website posting of a letter to the editor published April 27 regarding speed cameras: “When was the last time a child was hit in a school crossing in Hagerstown?

People in Washington County should concern themselves with the following passage from the Chicago Tribune, which appeared two days after Christmas: “In an annual ritual that has become as predictable if not as joyous as a New Year's Eve countdown to midnight, Chicago drivers again will have to dig a little deeper to pay to park at meters in 2013. “Loop rates will go up 75 cents to $6.50 an hour as part of scheduled fee increases included in Mayor Richard Daley's much-criticized 2008 lease of the city's meters to Chicago Parking Meters LLC.” Chicago Parking Meters LLC?

A reader inquired about the operation of speed cameras near Smithsburg schools. Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., resident Elizabeth Farmer, who frequently drives through the school zone on her way to work in Washington County, had questions related to the signs notifying motorists about the cameras and the posted speed limit. Signs placed a short distance away from the schools along North Main Street show that the school zone speed limit of 20 mph is photo-enforced between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Speed cameras have been placed on the I-70 bridges over Md. 63 (Greencastle Pike) near Williamsport, and traffic is being shifted to the outer edges of the bridges as work crews prepare to begin demolition work on the inner sides of the bridges as part of the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) project to reconstruct and widen them, according to an emailed release from the SHA on Friday. The Maryland SafeZones Automated Speed Enforcement system went into effect over Md. 63 last week, according to the release.

Speed cameras that were installed to monitor school zones in Hagerstown have generated nearly $1 million in revenue over eight months. City spokeswoman Erin Wolfe said speeding tickets issued as a result of the cameras amounted to about $979,606 in total earnings from April 2012, when the first cameras were installed, to November 2012. Of the amount raised from the 11 cameras that monitor 10 school zones in Hagerstown, the city through November received about $587,764, or roughly 60 percent of the money taken in from the tickets, Wolfe said.

The Town of Hancock donated $500 to Children's Village to support the free life-safety education program Children's Village provides to all second-grade students in Washington County each school year. Funds were generated from speed- camera revenue. Hancock was the first town to install the cameras. T.J. Buskirk, chief of police for the Town of Hancock, presented the check to Rochelle Morrell, director of Children's Village. “The Town of Hancock and the Hancock Police Department are committed to Children's Village and its successful safety program.

A speed camera that is designed to address speeding vehicles around Smithsburg's three public schools on North Main Street will start monitoring traffic Jan. 14, according to Smithsburg Police Chief George Knight. But there will be a 30-day grace period before the system starts issuing tickets, which will be mailed to motorists, Knight said Monday. Tickets will be mailed to motorists who are exceeding the 20 mph school zone speed limit by 12 mph or more, Knight said. The fine for speeding in the school zone is $40 and Optotraffic, the company operating the system, will get 40 percent of the proceeds from each ticket, Knight said.

A speed camera that is to be set up around Smithsburg's three public schools on North Main Street could be operational by next month, according to Smithsburg Police Chief George Knight. The speed camera will operate from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, said Smithsburg Council member Donnie Souders. Town officials started contemplating putting a speed camera in the area of Smithsburg High School, Smithsburg Elementary School and Smithsburg Middle School after Knight said there has been a problem with speeding near the schools.