Council Set to Vote on Speed Camera Locations
The Hyattsville City Council will vote on eight sites for a new municipal speed camera program.
- By Michael Theis
- Email the author
- April 8, 2012
Speeders beware. Hyattsville could soon be using automated speed cameras to catch your crimes against velocity. The City Council is set to give an up or down vote at its next meeting on Monday to approve the placement of at least four speed cameras along roads in Hyattsville.
City officials have been considering implementing a speed camera program for at least a year.
The program would be run by the Hyattsville City Police Department. The cameras will only snap your photo if it catches you traveling more than 12mph above the speed limit.
The police propose four cameras to be located on the westbound 3300 block of East West Highway, the northbound 5900 block of Ager Road, the westbound 3700 block of East West Highway and the southbound 7000 block of Adelphi Road.
The police also propose six additional secondary sites for the portable camera units to be located; the northbound 4900 block of Rhode Island Avenue, the eastbound 3300 block of East West Highway, the southbound 5800 block of Baltimore Avenue, the northbound 5900 block of Ager Road and the northbound 5400 block of Baltimore Avenue.
The city projects that each camera will issue an average of 50 tickets per day in the first year the program goes live. At $40 a ticket, that translates into roughly $2 million in fines issued by the city in the first year of the program. That income is expected to slump significantly in the second year of the program as local motorists become more wise to the camera's and their locations.
For every $40 fine issued, the city will only see $23.75. The remaining $16.25 goes to the company which operates the cameras.
To support the program, the polic department also recommends the immediate hiring of a new sergeant to manage the speed camera program and the police department's technological efforts in other areas.
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Michael L. Albertson
5:31 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
I live near Queens Chaplet road why didn't the City select this location with the average speed over 50+ ???
J.W. Hampton
7:25 am on Monday, April 9, 2012
The cameras may only be located in areas that are within 1/2 mile of a designated School Zone. I don't think your section of Q.C. Rd meets that criteria.
Michael Theis
12:37 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
Good question Mr. Albertson, and one which I don't yet have the answer to. Mr. Hampton is correct that the cameras can only be located within 1.5 miles of a designated school zone, however almost all of Queens Chapel between East West Highway and Ager Road is within the school zones for Nicholas Orem Middle as well as the two Concordia Lutheran Schools in Hyattsville. But, take heart in that the measure approving the locations of the speed cameras does give the police the authority to place cameras in other locations as they see fit. Check out page 12 of this PDF to see where the school zones lay in Hyattsville. They pretty much cover almost all of it - http://hyattsville.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/1013
Michael Theis
8:57 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
Mr. Albertson, I'm sitting here in the Hyattsville City Council meeting, and police chief Doug Holland just answered your question - The Queens Chapel locations were not chosen because the Redeemer Lutheran School is currently closed.
Danny
7:42 am on Monday, April 9, 2012
some of these locations (adelphi and ager come to mind) are already on the list of county-operated speed camera sites. will city cameras replace the county ones?
Westsider
9:03 am on Monday, April 9, 2012
Is this a standard delineation of funds between the city and the camera operators? That seems like a large chunk to take out of each ticket, particularly when you think about the cost to defend against contested tickets...
Clarke Bedford
3:51 pm on Friday, April 13, 2012
I think cameras should be placed where there is risk. Route 1 traffic really takes care of itself through congestion. And while students may be vulnerable, I agree that QC Road is the site of quite dangerous speeding. The absolute worst traffic location is the new "no right turn on red" sign heading west where E-W, QC and Adelphi Rd. meet. That sign is ignored maybe 90% of the time if indeed traffic even bothers to slows down rather than whip around the corner.