Wootton Speed Camera A Microcosm
Sep 30, 2009 17:01 - 7 Comments
As >Rockville Central readers know, talking about speed cameras is a sure way to generate angry comments. That’s not the intent of this article, though!
Reader Theresa Defino pointed out that today’s Washington Post has a very interesting piece on the effects of speed cameras on driving habits. The article takes the speed camera on Wootton Parkway and looks at what’s happened there since it was installed. (A new law takes effect tomorrow that allows such cameras across Maryland.)
The results? Drivers learn to slow down — sometimes more than they have to:
In December, three months after installation: 1,678 citations. In January 2008: 1,463. By September 2008, the monthly citations count had dipped below 700. And three months ago, the camera caught 555 speeders. Drivers obviously got the memo.
The speed measurements also tell the story: Before the camera went up, the mean speed along that stretch was 27.4 mph. Now it’s 23 mph, a 16 percent reduction. Drivers are so aware of the camera that they are moving at speeds below the posted limit. “That’s much more than we expected,” said Rockville police Capt. Robert Rappoport.
The overall speed camera effort has also been good for Rockville’s coffers: “The [single camera has] generated $567,173 for the city to spend on traffic safety programs and $388,066 for Affiliated Computer Services, a Dallas business services conglomerate that installed and operates Rockville’s cameras,” according to the article.
Here is a map of all speed and red light cameras in Rockville, courtesy of your friends at Rockville Central:
View Rockville Speed Camera Locations in a larger map
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Yeah. People hit the brakes as they go thru the camera capture lines. Then go as fast as they want. People train up to this very quickly, and it dos nothing for other road areas. I want to see them measure speed 1/4 mile before and after the cameras.
Yes Andrew, I have noticed the same. People slow to a crawl through the “camera zone” and then punch it. The good thing is that they do slow down, and maybe a few remember to slow their roll as they move through the neighborhood. The bad thing is the folks the slam on their brakes when they see the camera — remember to always keep a safe driving zone between you and the car in front of you.
I live Rockshire and it IS frustrating at times following folks up the hill toward the Giant Food doing 15mph. It’s the price we pay (no pun intended). I typically find you CAN drive through the camera’s at 5mph over the limit and your good to go. It has been suggested 10-11mph and it’s ok. I have yet to test the theory.I’m waiting for the day they place the cameras in the local lanes of 270 to slow the speeders there.
Just because it’s a slower speed doesn’t mean it’s a safer speed. Jamming on the brakes for 30 feet then resuming to 10 mph above the posted speed limit is hardly “safe” in my eyes. I support the idea of the cameras going up in school zones, since drivers should be alert in these areas, but on W. Montgomery during rush hour, the amount of traffic that gets bottle necked up at the cameras is just ridiculous. The police are getting paid, and lazy because of their automatron ticket mills. What ever happened to actually enforcing speed limits with a patrol officer and a radar gun? At least then police can be out in the public view.I should also mention that the company that installs these electronic abominations of technology get a nice fat check from each ticket that gets churned out. And if I’m not mistaken, they’re one of the only licensed contractors to install the cameras in the U.S. Monopoly? I think so.
I’ve seen people slam on the brakes when they see an officer at a speed trap and then speed up again as soon as they were out of line of sight – same backups and bottlenecks. And it’s a lot worse on, say, 270 where people suddenly slow from 70+ to 55 when they see a police car (parked or driving), rather than from 40 to 30. Traffic behind me at 70 has a lot more momentum going at 70mph.Most of the time on W. Montgomery Avenue I’m stuck behind traffic that had to stop for the traffic light right there anyway, so I really don’t see a big difference there most of the time.The cameras free up the police to respond to calls; how much would it cost to have a manned speed trap set up even part-time, let alone 24/7? On Baltimore Road the rush hours seem (to me) to be more even-paced since the introduction of the SafeSpeed vans; commuters know they’re there, they don’t always know where they’ll be, they’re taking it easier. I see a difference when I’m on foot with my kids trying to cross, I really do. If we had a fixed speed camera, you can bet that THAT would be the spot I’d choose as a pedestrian to cross the road.I do have a problem with the “kickbacks” the companies receive, though. I’d prefer to buy them, pay for them outright, and have no more connection with the makers of them except for maintenance under warranty.
The idiotic (and dangerous) behavior of slamming on brakes is not motivated so much by the in/validity of using speed cameras as it is by a cultural viewpoint we have adopted as drivers which results in illogical patterns of behavior. Too many drivers have an almost atavistic urge to “punch up” their speed and aggression whenever possible, and then overreact reflexively when there’s some warning mechanism that there just might be punitive action. The sad truth is that most drivers in this region drive aggressively because they know that they can usually get away with it, and there is a general attitude of contempt toward pedestrians and other drivers as obstacles.Unfortunately, many of the people who are the angriest about speed cameras would also complain the loudest if the approach shifted back to live-police-with-radars. There’d be a “hue and cry” about how, in these economic times, we shouldn’t be wasting limited police resources on labor-intensive activities like manning speed traps and personally writing up speeding tickets. I’m sure that cops on the traffic beat get the “shouldn’t you be pursuing REAL criminals instead of writing tickets for doing 38 in a 25 zone?” far too often.
Speaking of cry of how “in these economic times we shouldn’t be wasting limited police resources,” how about montgomery county’s interest in developing an aviation division. Talk about a waste.