Speed Cams: The Cash Cow

If you've been driving around Montgomery County, Maryland anytime in the past year or so and you have a moderately 'heavy' foot when it comes to driving then chances are that you've received a speed camera speeding ticket sometime in that time. I myself was the victim of one a few weeks ago. Now the way the speed camera works (in a nutshell) is that it has a built in radar that tracks vehicles as they approach the camera and the speed is calculated on the rate at which you are approaching the camera. if the speed is faster than the programmed posted speed limit then most likely you will get a ticket with a nice clear photo showing your vehicle approaching the camera and after the camera with a blown up image of your license plate (just to confirm that it is you).

Now as always there are two schools of thought on this new technology; those that love it and those that consider it a bane. I find myself being a member of the latter group while the county itself is in the former. Why do I say that? Well that's because ten months into the current fiscal year, tickets issued by the speed cameras have earned nearly $15 million in revenue. That's no small sum considering the previous year's total income was approximately $12 million. And what do you think is going to happen to the numbers when the number of cameras in the county are doubled during the next fiscal year? I can hear the collective nod of all readers out there; you guessed it, revenue is going to go higher, perhaps even double of what it currently is.

Some people will jump up and claim that it isn't a bad thing that these cameras are out there. After all they will help curb speeders and should be effective in making drivers around Montgomery County safer. Police officials also point out that it will be a more pronounced deterrent. If a Police officer pulls you over for speeding you will get a ticket, two points on your license and a fine of $90 (largely dependent on how fast you were speeding in relation to the posted speed limit). The unspoken caveat (and drawback) to doing things the 'old-fashioned' and low-tech way is that an officer can only issue so many tickets per hour. With a speed camera you can click away to your hearts content and literally rake in the money. The thinking of most drivers who get these tickets (and I know that my thinking was the same) was $40 isn't much of a fine but in large quantities it will add up.

But something else came to my mind as well. My violation was for driving 41 MPH in a 30 MPH zone. Now I know that technically I was in violation of the law in driving 11 MPH above the posted speed limit but when you think about it, how many times have you been pulled over for driving 11 MPH above the posted speed limit when there was a cop car involved. I'm sure you could probably count the occurences on one hand (if even that many fingers were required). Sure it's an unwritten rule that driving about 10 miles above the speed limit is acceptable though not necessarily encouraged but is that the threshold that has been built into these speed cams?

According to the County police department, ticket fines are flat at $40 with no points on the license but what I'm wondering is if for that instance I was driving 39 MPH instead of 41 MPH would that two MPH difference have meant no ticket? If these cameras are programmed to have such a narrow window for speed fluctuation then is it any wonder that cameras are generating so much revenue? And it isn't like I got my ticket a day or two after the incident, I got it nearly a month later. How am I supposed to remember where I was off to and what the circumstances may have been for my driving 11 MPH above the speed limit? How many drivers can honestly tell me that they drive at the speed limit with absolutely no fluctuation in speed? It's highly unlikely; I mean even when my car is in cruise control on the highway it goes up and down by a few miles per hour.

I don't necessarily disagree with this method of deterring excessive speed throughout the county, Lord knows drivers across the nation could use a bit of a lesson when it comes to speeding around but this just seems to be a bit much. Fines are pulling in nearly $1,500 a day! A day! With more cameras it will only increase and pretty soon I think the County will be in a budget surplus. Isn't this a way of 'generating' revenue from residents and non-residents alike? Most people won't think twice about sending $40 to Montgomery County if it means saving court appearances or points on their license but I really wonder if someone shouldn't check to what standards these cameras are expected to operate. After all, is someone who is driving 11 miles over the speed limit as bad (or as guilty) as someone driving 30 miles over the speed limit? I don't think so.