Speeding In County Can Get You On Camera

Monitors Will Be Put Near Schools, Housing

Beginning next week, drivers speeding through some Montgomery County neighborhoods and school zones will become the first in Maryland to get caught on camera.

Police are placing cameras on residential streets and near schools to catch motorists zooming through areas with speed limits of 35 mph or less. The county has used red-light cameras for several years, and motorists regularly encounter large, flashing numbers monitoring their speeds in neighborhoods. However, these cameras will be the first in the state to identify speeders.

Montgomery County police plan to begin using the first of six mobile speed cameras Monday, rotating them throughout the county using a minivan. Six more cameras will be placed at fixed sites later this year, police said.

The exact camera locations are still being determined, said Montgomery police spokeswoman Lucille Baur. However, she said, they will be limited to residential streets and school zones, as mandated by the 2006 law that approved the Montgomery cameras as a pilot project for the state.

Rockville plans to begin using one mobile camera Monday, rotating it among 12 sites. Three additional locations in Rockville will get fixed cameras later this year. Police in Chevy Chase Village hope to have two cameras in place by April, and Gaithersburg police plan to have one by summer, police said.

Planned camera locations include Connecticut Avenue between Chevy Chase Circle and Bradley Lane in Chevy Chase; West Montgomery Avenue between Interstate 270 and downtown Rockville; and Redland Boulevard in Rockville's King Farm subdivision.

Vehicles traveling 11 mph over the posted limit will be photographed, police said. During the first 30 days, the vehicles' registered owners will receive warnings. After that, it's a $40 fine and civil citation, meaning no points on a driver's license and no notification of insurance companies. The cameras are expected to pay for themselves in fines, police said.

"We want residents to feel comfortable walking in their communities and children to feel safe walking to school," Baur said.

The mobile digital cameras will sit on the dashboard of minivans parked along the road, parallel to passing traffic, police said. An antenna on the van's front bumper detects a vehicle as it passes and triggers the camera, which snaps two photos. Vehicle owners also will receive a third photo -- a blow-up of their car tag -- with the citation. Streets that have no room for the van will have fixed cameras in a metal box atop a pole, police said.

Photos will show only the rear of vehicles, police said.

"It's not meant to be overly intrusive of drivers' privacy," said Rockville police Lt. Jim Main.

Unlike some speeding enforcement efforts, such as speed humps, cameras in neighborhoods and school zones are popular, even among motorists, said Lon Anderson, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. A survey conducted by the organization in Maryland in the fall showed seven out of 10 people favored speed cameras in areas with speed limits under 35 mph, Anderson said.

While many motorists detest speed traps on highways, he said, "People perceive speeding through neighborhoods and school zones to be part of the epidemic of aggressive driving and a threat to neighborhoods and children."

The camera locations won't be a secret. Enforcement zones will be listed on police Web sites, and signs saying "photo-enforced" will be attached to speed-limit signs where cameras are located, authorities said.

"This is not a 'gotcha' program," said Roy Gordon, Chevy Chase Village police chief. "People will know where they are. We're trying to change driver behavior."