MD Drivers Finally Heed Work Zone Speed Cameras: AAA

TOWSON, MD – Speed cameras are posted in work zones in the Baltimore metro area and across Maryland to make drivers think twice before speeding in road construction areas. And the cameras have works with reduced numbers of crashes and fines paid, AAA Mid-Atlantic says. Ticket revenue from the cameras has plummeted 44.5 percent in recent years.

Mobile enforcement vehicles armed with speed cameras are rotating work zones in the Baltimore metro area, as well as other counties, including Anne Arundel and Howard.

A work zone speed camera ticket in Maryland carries a $40 fine and is issued if a vehicle exceeds the posted work zone speed limit by 12 mph or more. The cameras operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so even when workers are not present drivers could still get ticketed. The photo citations do not deduct points on a driver’s record or carry insurance penalties.

“In Maryland, most work zone crashes across the state occur in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metro areas,” said Ragina Cooper Averella with AAA Mid-Atlantic, in a news release. "The state of Maryland deploys ‘Automated Speed Enforcement’ mobile units in work zones to modify driver behavior and to save the lives of highway workers and motorists.”

In 2016, “six people lost their lives in work zone crashes in Maryland, including one highway worker,” reports the Maryland Department of Transportation. Others suffered incapacitating injuries. Between 2010 and 2016, work zone fatalities averaged 6.6 per year in Maryland, a drop of about 45 percent from the seven-year average of 11.9 fatalities per year from 2003 through 2009, says the Department of Legislative Services.

Currently, there are 15 active work zone speed camera locations in Maryland. In the Baltimore metro area, the northbound I-95 camera north of the Fort McHenry Tunnel generates the most citations of any other Baltimore metro area work zone camera. This is not surprising given that the tunnel is the busiest of all of Maryland’s toll facilities, according to the MDTA.

However, compared to the volume of traffic, only a miniscule number of citations were issued. Drivers took 45.3 million trips cumulatively through the Fort McHenry Tunnel during fiscal year 2017, while slightly more than 76,700 work zone speeding citations were issued during the eight months of 2017 when the speed camera was active.

Baltimore Metro Area SafeZones Active Speed Cameras

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About 1,342,500 driver on the receiving end of work zone speed camera tickets in Maryland paid an estimated $54 million in fine revenue to the state from FY 2013 to FY 2016. Revenues dipped significantly from $16.4 million in FY 2013, to about $9.1 million in FY 2016, according to the state.

Since the cameras were deployed, the amount of speeding vehicles in work zones has dropped “90 percent” in Maryland, AAA says. And the number of work zone fatalities has also declined significantly statewide.

“The automated speed camera system in Maryland’s work zones is generating the positive outcome that AAA supported,. “A decline in work zone fatalities, coupled with the consistent drop in revenue, indicates that motorists are altering their driving behavior and lives are being saved in Maryland’s work zones,” said Averella.

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