More than 3,600 speed camera citations were issued in Howard County in the first two months of 2012, according to the Howard County Police Department.
in October of last year. After a one-month probationary period, were issued to vehicles travelling 12 mph or faster over the speed limit.
Since November, the county has collected $182,360 in fines according to Sherry Llewellyn, spokewoman for the police department.
Those fines have not yet covered the expenses of the program which, to date, have been $196,073, according to Llewellyn. That figure includes the initial start-up expenses of the program and payments of $87,375 to ACS, the vendor that operates the mobile speed units.
According to police, the department expects that the fines collected will cover the cost of the program during the next fiscal year.
The most number of citations have been issued at:
- Rogers Avenue at School
- Centennial Lane at and
- Tamar Drive at Jeffers Hill Elementary School
- Vollmerausen Road at Bethel Christian Academy
- Old Montgomery Road at the Maryland School for the Deaf
The least number of citations have been issued at:
- Montgomery Road at
- Maryland Route 108 at Clarksville Middle School
- Stonehouse Drive at
- Oakland Mills Road at Guilford Elementary School
- Folly Quarter Road at Glenelg Country School
Check the Howard County Police Department's speed camera section weekly for updates about where the speed cameras will be that week.
for answers to some frequently asked questions about speed cameras from Capt. John McKissick, commander of the special operation division.
But I guess if one hits a child doing 11 mph over the speed limit, it won't matter. The child will likely be dead and the 40 fine will be a moot point. This tells me that it is about the money. Making it profitable is only a matter of time. I think all excess proceeds should go to the schools, something that really helps the children.
Why is it people find it so hard to not drive 12+ mph over the speed limit? Who cares if they're there for a legitimate reason or if it's all about filling political coffers? It's not like they made up a new law, they're simply enforcing an understandable one that's always been there. The law is the law and always has been; if you choose to break it excessively, you get what you deserve.
I hope you know the fees associated with this program occur each and every year, and are not "paid off" when they hit their $196K. This program was put together by a for profit company (ACS and division of Xerox) and is there to make money-period. ACS would not develop the cameras, install them ,train employees how to use them and handle the paper work if they felt there is no return on their investment or believed the cameras worked so well they become unnecessary in a year or two. Second, I am very happy you feel children are safer than ever because the county parks a plain white van sporadically in front of a school that takes a picture of a license plate and mails the owner (not always the driver) a bill for $40 two weeks later, with no threat of points on their record or an increase in insurance rates. I was thinking this method might work for my home to, so I will insist that the police are no longer notified by my alarm company when a intruder enters my house, but instead have cameras installed to photograph and send a bill a few weeks later to the burglar and demand $40. If that is good enough for the kids it might just be good enough for my family too.
i want to buy stock in gelco