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Lawmakers May Open The Way for Cameras To Watch for Speeding
Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari emphasizes protecting highway workers from dangerous drivers.
(By Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)
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Del. Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore), who chairs the Environmental Matters Committee, said the legislature would allow local governments to install speed cameras only if they want them.
"It's not going to say that speed cameras are coming to your county -- unless your local officials want them, hold public hearings, get citizen input and decide to install them locally," McIntosh said.
Montgomery Police Lt. Ronald Smith told lawmakers that the speed-camera program there has helped limit speeding in neighborhoods. "Consistent enforcement is the key to changing driver behavior," he said.
Neil J. Pedersen, head of the State Highway Administration, said cameras would not be used to raise revenue.
"Our goal is that this not be a revenue bill," Pedersen said. "I would like to see this set up in a way that drivers are driving the speed limit and we're not collecting any revenue."
There have been several high-profile, speed-related accidents involving government construction workers and police officers.
In August, two road workers were killed and three others injured when a speeding van slammed into a parked construction truck and then pinned the workers against a guardrail on Route 29 in Burtonsville. In June, a Howard County police officer was killed when he tried to stop a car for speeding on Route 32 in Savage.
A measure to allow speed cameras statewide passed the Democrat-controlled legislature in 2003 but was vetoed by then-governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).
In 2006, the legislature overrode Ehrlich's veto on a separate bill to allow Montgomery to use cameras, but that law does not apply to other jurisdictions.
