Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – A record 1 million speed camera tickets were issued in the District in 2017 according to information from the DMV, which is about 85,000 tickets more than in 2016.

To put that number in perspective, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson John Townsend points out that in neighboring Maryland, more than 1.5 million speed camera tickets were issued in 2017 across 44 different jurisdictions. Virginia doesn’t have speed cameras.

“The District’s speed camera program appears to defy the law of inertia, which posits ‘what goes up, must come down,'” Townsend said.

AAA isn’t sure why the number of speed camera tickets is increasing.

One reason the number of tickets issued in D.C. is so high to begin with, according to Townsend, is because D.C. has more speed cameras than other places, and it also has fewer rules and regulations on where they can be located. In Maryland, Townsend said the Maryland State Highway Administration can put speed cameras in work zones, while local jurisdictions can only place speed cameras in school zones. He said the exception is in Montgomery County – which had the first speed camera program in the state and was grandfathered in – where some neighborhoods with speed limits below 35 miles per hour have speed cameras.

While the high number of tickets issued in D.C. is bad news for drivers who had to shell out between $50 and $300 each for the tickets, it’s good news for the District’s coffers, according to Townsend. He said the District raked in nearly $104 million in revenues from the tickets from the people who actually paid them.

Despite the financial hit to drivers, people aren’t slowing down, according to Townsend. He said chances are the number of tickets issued in 2018 will be even higher than 2017’s record number.

Some may say if people don’t want to incur these costly tickets, they just need to stop speeding, but Townsend said that’s not as easy as it sounds.

“If the speed limits are artificially too low, then you’re setting speed traps that entice people to speed, and the District has become one big speed trap,” Townsend said.

Townsend believes new more sophisticated speed cameras will lead to even more people getting tickets. Not only do these cameras have what he calls advanced detection technology, but they will also be in places that are harder to spot, including high up on poles or near treetops.

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