In Baltimore, Maryland, city lawmakers are thinking about adding more speed cameras. These automatic speed traps have been decreasing speeding however not accidents. Even if the city does add more tickets, these camcorders aren’t earning money for the city.
Baltimore speed camcorders
There were speed traps put up in “high risk” areas like school zones in Baltimore, Md. The tickets issued by these speeding cameras are generally about $40 and are officially issued by the city of Baltimore. The police have found that these camcorders are reducing the amount of speeding by half or more, however the amount of collisions has not been going down.
Baltimore’s speed cameras
Tickets have been given to individuals in Baltimore for a few months. These all come from the speed cameras. The money from the tickets isn’t really being seen by the City of Baltimore though. Having the speed cameras is more like payday loans for the city. The city has to pay more money than is received even though more money is given to the city. A private business owns, monitors and tracks the cameras while the private contractor gets $32 of every $40. The installation of cameras has to be paid for by the city. Money has actually been lost so far. Right now, the city is losing money off of the cameras. Still, a short term personal loan for more is on the table.
A business for private contractors taking over for police
interestingly enough, Baltimore isn’t the only city doing what is being done. In fact, other cities are paying private companies to do work too. The traffic enforcement camcorders are having trouble legally. A defendant’s right to face their accuser has been cited multiple times by drivers who have been ticketed by a camera or automated system, and many tickets have been overturned. Traffic tickets aren’t paid by many people. That means that several private companies make millions doing the work city law enforcement are intended to do.
Citations
ABC 2 News
abc2news.com/dpp/news/region/baltimore_county/baltimore-county-looks-to-add-speed-cameras
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_enforcement_camera
Leave a Reply