Several Republican senators called the cameras an unwarranted government intrusion and pointed Tuesday to the wide disparity between penalties for speeders recorded by cameras and those caught by police officers. Motorists who are pulled over can be fined $120 to $260 and given two to five points on their licenses. Sen. Alex X. Mooney, a Republican representing Frederick and Washington counties, said that if safety were the top priority, the penalties would be symmetrical.
Robey said he would be in favor of that, but he noted that the camera fine had been designed as a compromise.
Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire, an Anne Arundel County Republican, said the camera program was a needless tax on residents that generates money for additional government spending.
Even supporters recognize the point.
Chevy Chase - one of several Montgomery County municipalities that use the cameras - made more money from them last year than its entire town budget, Sen. Brian E. Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat, told colleagues Tuesday.
To avoid the appearance of cameras being used to pad government coffers, Frosh suggested limiting any local take to covering camera expenses, plus 10 percent that could be used only on pedestrian and public safety initiatives. The Senate approved Frosh's amendment.
Cameras emerged as a law enforcement tool in Maryland in 1997, when the General Assembly authorized the use of automated systems to record the tags of vehicles that run red lights.
Red-light cameras have reduced rear-end collisions by up to 40 percent in Howard County, Robey said, calling the statistic proof that cameras can change driver behavior.
Sen. E.J. Pipkin, a Republican from Southern Maryland, said the cameras would be far less effective at "behavior modification" than the shame of getting pulled over by an officer.
"You just get a citation in the mail," he said. "All this does is promote anger against the government."
Montgomery County officials said their program, approved in 2006 and operating for two years, has been successful in reducing speeding.
A 2007 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that the number of vehicles going 10 mph or more over the speed limit in active camera zones decreased by 70 percent, and speed violations fell by almost 40 percent in areas with camera warning signs but no cameras.
The Maryland Chiefs of Police backs speed cameras.
