Traffic Cameras Promoted as Deterrent to Speeding

Officer's Death Stirs State Senator to Act

Maryland state Sen. James N. Robey Jr. (D) had been thinking about a law to allow speed detection cameras on Howard County roads. Then, last June, Howard County Police Cpl. Scott Wheeler was fatally injured on Route 32 as he attempted to flag down a speeding car.

"That put a fire in my belly to do something about this," said Robey, a former county police chief and county executive.

So Robey will be pushing for a measure this legislative session giving Howard law enforcement officials the authority to use speed cameras on local roads. A 2006 state law cleared the way for Montgomery County officials to use the cameras.

"This is the 21st century," Robey said. "We have the technology to prevent injuries and save lives."

Robey supports use the cameras on county roads with speed limits of up to 45 mph, such as Little Patuxent, Snowden River and Broken Land parkways. The cameras would also be allowed in school zones, as they are in Montgomery.

Images taken by the cameras would be reviewed by police department employees before citations are issued, Howard County Police Chief William J. McMahon said.

"The police department has the final authority on issuing citations," he said.

Drivers, who could be fined up to $75, could challenge the citations in court, much the way they can with red-light violations.

McMahon estimated that a dozen lives are lost each year in the county because of speed-related accidents, and said he hopes the cameras will make drivers more mindful.

"Our goal is not to catch people," McMahon said. "Our goal is to make people slow down."

County Executive Ken Ulman (D) also supports the use of speed cameras.

"We don't have enough man- and woman-power to have a police officer in every location doing speed enforcement," he said.