Montgomery County residents can suggest locations for speed cameras by contacting the Montgomery County Police Automated Traffic Enforcement Program Manager. Cameras may only be placed on residential roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less or in school zones, as defined by Maryland law.
Suggested locations undergo a detailed evaluation process involving data analysis, site visits, and final approval by the Police Department’s Traffic Division Director, with the goal of improving overall driver behavior through data-driven camera placement.
According to MCPD, “As the Speed Camera program evolved, it became apparent that drivers generally slowed down when approaching a known speed camera and accelerated once they have passed it. In the Police Department’s efforts to further improve driver behavior, the Speed Camera Corridor approach was initiated. This approach allows for the placement of cameras anywhere within a designated Speed Camera Corridor. The intention is to have drivers slow down on an entire stretch of road and not just where they know the cameras are located.”
Process Used For Selecting a Safe Speed Camera Location, courtesy https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/pol/howdoI/request-speed-camera.html:
“If a suggested location is a residential road with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less or in a school zone, the following process is used for selecting a Safe Speed camera location:
- Pre-enforcement verification
- Requests from residents, Homeowners Associations (HOAs), police officers, government officials, and Police Department Traffic Division personnel.
- Collision data
- Additional factors such as site surveys, pedestrian activity, community and environmental concerns, points of interest in the area to include places of worship, schools, public facilities, swim centers, etc.
- Data Collection
- Several sources of data collection are culled and narrowed to stretches of roadways where there is believed to be a concentration of speeding problems.
- Data analysis
- Collected data is analyzed and reviewed by Automated Traffic Enforcement Unit personnel, the Safe Speed Program manager, and the Director of the Police Department’s Traffic Division.
- Program manager/designee site visit:
- Once a potential camera location has been evaluated, a site visit is made to determine whether the location will be presented to the Director of the Police Department’s Traffic Division for review.
This visit may include a review and consideration of the following:
- Location – residential, school zone, or commercial
- Roadway grade – curve, hill, straight
- Proper signage (Is the speed limit posted, are there signs noting a change in speed limit, are there photo-enforced signs posted? etc.).
- Crash endangerment – number of crashes in the designated area
- Speed endangerment – metro counts, etc.
- Environmental factors – areas where the equipment can be safely set up, operated, and maintained
- Traffic-volume metrics – total number of vehicles passing through a selected survey location between rush hour and non-rush hour periods
- Prioritization of the suggested camera location/roadway by contributing factors – What is the pedestrian proximity on a potential speed enforcement road/deployment location? What additional factors exist? For example: schools, bus stops, playgrounds, pools, sidewalks, retirement facilities, crosswalks.
- Final Approval
The Automated Traffic Enforcement Program Manager confers with the Director of the Traffic Division. The Traffic Division Director has final approval. Once final approval is given the site must be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation prior to conducting enforcement.