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Speed cameras in the District and Maryland have produced millions in revenue and proponents argue they have made roads safer. They could become legal in Virginia.
Earlier this year, Gov. Ralph Northam, along with Virginia House Democrats, proposed a series of driving safety measures. Those measures include allowing local governments to lower speed limits in business or residential districts to less than 25 mph, and permitting stationary speed cameras on certain interstates and primary roads designated as safety corridors.
On Wednesday, House Bill 1414, which includes those measures, was referred to the House Appropriations Committee as it continues to move slowly through the Commonwealth’s legislative process.
However, this year’s session ends soon. Both chambers of the state legislature adjourn on Saturday, March 7, with a deadline to complete work on bills in late February. Whether the bill gets to the Senate, through the reconciliation process and to Gov. Northam’s desk in time to be signed into law later this spring is uncertain.
Back in early 2019, Virginia lawmakers approved a bill that would allow speed cameras with strict limitations — State Police troopers would only be able to use the cameras in highway work zones, and the police car would have to have its lights flashing during use. Tickets would only be issued to drivers going at least 12 mph over the speed limit. Gov. Ralph Northam did not sign the bill, instead choosing to kick it back to legislators to reconsider this year.
Revenue and Safety
Alexandria Living Magazine
A speed awareness camera on eastbound Seminary Road in Alexandria.
Maryland in 2018 collected $64 million in fines from speed cameras alone.
Washington, DC collected more than $200 million in transportation-related tickets from Oct. 1, 2018 through Sept. 30, 2019 — that includes parking violations, non-speed camera speeding tickets and all other violations. According to data from the District Department of Transportation, the District issued more than 1.3 million tickets from speed cameras, red light cameras and stop sign cameras combined.
Most drivers know that the fear of getting an expensive ticket is often enough to slow drivers down where speed cameras are known to be placed, but there have been very few studies about the effectiveness of speed cameras in the United States outside of anecdotal evidence. The most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on the topic only cited studies done prior to 2010.
Since speed cameras are not legal in Virginia, Alexandria uses speed awareness cameras, which do not issue fines, throughout the city. Reports from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (USDOT) show these signs are effective in reducing traffic speeds and increasing speed limit compliance, but they only work for a limited time before drivers start to ignore them.
Alexandria has, in recent years, reduced speed limits on some major roadways, including Seminary Road and Richmond Highway, to the lowest allowed speed of 25 mph.
Some residents have suggested that speed cameras on known cut-through routes could reduce cut-through traffic by non-residents.
In addition to the poll above, we posed the question to our followers on Facebook. Click on this post to see what they're saying:
