Written by Adam Pagnucco.
Last fiscal year, Montgomery County issued more than 300,000 speed and red light citations. And guess what?
There may be more to come!
Last month, County Executive Mark Elrich sent the Montgomery County Police Department’s (MCPD) 2024 Automated Traffic Enforcement Plan to the County Council. The plan details the recent history of the county’s use of speed and red light cameras and outlines plans for the next two years. Here are two-word versions of these plans:
more. camera.
Want to know more?
The chart below shows the number of red light camera citations over the past five fiscal years.
The graph below shows the number of speeding arrests over the past five financial years.
Both trends are different. While red light enforcement arrests are increasing, speed enforcement enforcement is decreasing. Why is this?
The graph below shows the number of cameras from 2022 to 2026. Red light cameras have remained stable since 2022, but the number of citations has increased. From fiscal 2022 onwards, the number of speed cameras has increased, but the number of arrests has decreased. The plan does not explain why this trend occurred.
Two other things can be seen from the graph above. First, the county received only $4.2 million in camera funding in FY24. This is a rounding error in the county’s operating budget of $7.1 billion.
Second, the county is planning a major expansion of cameras. At the beginning of fiscal year 2022, the county had 78 speed cameras and 51 red light cameras. The county plans to install 140 speed cameras and 76 red light cameras by fiscal year 2026. The county projects net camera revenue for FY26 to be $5.2 million, a 23% increase from FY24.
The plan cites multiple studies showing cameras reduce speed, injuries and fatalities. It could also reduce the need for police officers to enforce traffic enforcement, although the county still relies on the latter for weapon seizures and pedestrian safety. In fact, the county views police enforcement and surveillance cameras as complements, not replacements.
Finally, the plan lists “challenges to collect automated enforcement fines and hold drivers accountable.” They include:
Maryland officials removed the authority in 2020 to suspend vehicle registrations for failure to pay automatic enforcement notices. Maryland currently has no reciprocity with other states regarding automatic enforcement. Without reciprocity, there are few remedies to collect fines from out-of-state violators. Credit bureaus do not consider unpaid traffic enforcement fines when evaluating a person’s credit report. All fines collected in district courts are deposited into the Maryland General Fund, rather than being paid to counties or municipalities.
That’s it, folks. When the time comes, don’t forget to smile for the camera!
The complete plan can be downloaded below.
2024 Automated Traffic Enforcement Plan
