D.C. cameras hit Maryland drivers hardest

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By Tarron Lively

Maryland drivers receive the bulk of the citations every month from the District's automated traffic-enforcement system, which has generated more than $135 million in fines since 1999.

More than 64 percent of drivers cited last month were from Maryland, as the District's automated speed-enforcement program collected $2.8 million in fines, statistics compiled by the Metropolitan Police Department show.

About 20 percent of violators were from the District, while drivers from Virginia made up 9 percent of the total, statistics show. Drivers from other states made up about 7 percent of the violators.

Meanwhile, the percentage of speeding motorists is the lowest in the program's history. Statistics show that 2 percent of the 2,735,983 motorists monitored in the District were caught speeding last month — the lowest percentage since the speed cameras were introduced in 2001.

Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said commuters and out-of-towners are not disproportionately cited.

"Maryland drivers are not targeted — it is what it is," Chief Ramsey said. "All people have to obey our laws. Automated systems don't discriminate."

John B. Townsend II, a spokesman for AAA's Mid-Atlantic region, disagreed, saying the program "smacks of deliberately targeting Maryland commuters."

"It does indeed discriminate, because most of the major commuter routes are targeted," Mr. Townsend said. "While we agree that automated enforcement is a viable approach to curbing speeding, more equity is needed."

A ticket for a red-light violation in the District carries a $75 fine, and speeding violations can cost as much as $200, depending on how fast the motorist is driving, according to the police department.

Since the program's inception, the District has collected an average of $1.83 for each of the 54,708,779 vehicles that have passed through the zones.