Automated cameras that result in $40 citations for owners of vehicles caught speeding could be coming to many parts of Maryland under a plan that surfaced Tuesday in the state Senate and appears likely to become law.
Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley has been seeking a statewide expansion of speed cameras, which generated nearly $10 million in fines last year through a pilot program in Montgomery County, the only jurisdiction where they are now allowed.
Lawmakers approved a similar statewide initiative six years ago, but it was vetoed by then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican. Critics say the program is little more than a cash cow for local governments and a major annoyance to drivers policed by machines.
The General Assembly has rebuffed efforts to revive the plan, and O'Malley's proposal had appeared all but dead again this year. A Senate committee watered down his legislation, allowing the cameras only in highway work zones.
But the initiative unexpectedly gained new life Tuesday, when the full Senate embraced a suggestion from Sen. James N. Robey, a former Howard County police chief and Democratic county executive, to significantly widen the committee's bill.
Robey proposed authorizing speed cameras within a half-mile of any school, which could place them in huge swaths of the state's urban and suburban areas. The Senate accepted his suggestion by a vote of 26-19.
"It's about safety," Robey said. "We can't put police officers everywhere, but we have the technology to reduce speed. We should use it."
The House of Delegates appears willing to follow suit. House leaders said they have been waiting for the Senate to act, because that is where a speed camera bill died in the final hours of last year's legislative session.
Maryland lawmakers are suggesting that $40 citations be issued to owners of vehicles captured going at least 12 mph above the posted speed limit. The penalty would not be considered a moving violation and no points would be issued to an offender, meaning that insurance premiums would not increase.
Private vendors hired by the state and local governments would install and maintain the cameras, with the money going to whichever government entity places them. Police employees would review the citations before they are mailed out, and motorists could contest their fines in court. Areas monitored by speed cameras would be clearly marked with signs.
