Speed Cameras now a $77 million dollar industry in Maryland.

What do you do when you need revenue, install speed cameras(scameras) everywhere. There has been a huge influx of them installed recently, and they make A LOT of money.

Unfortunately, the state usualy gets a much smaller amount while the private company that runs the camers get the lion's share.

How is that even legal?

Prince Georges is planning on adding as many as six new cameras each month this year, with the goal of having 72 by July, according to the Washington Examiner. In the short period of time the county's current 20 cameras have been in place(since September) they have issued over 93,425 citations (face value $3.7million).

93k citations in four months.

What really gets me is some of the legislation:

Legislation was proposed which would have removed all police oversight from the issuance of speed camera citations. StopBigBrotherMD.org argued that this change would increase the likelyhood of errors and a reduce accountability by local governments. The requirement that sworn police approve citations was one of the main arguments made by camera supporters that there is an adequate level of review before citations are sent.

wait, what?

A legislative change, which would have required that "workzone speed cameras" only be deployed in workzones where there are actual workers, was rejected by the state legislature. Current law permits "workzone" cameras to be used "regardless of whether workers are present", and many if not most of the tickets issued by SHA cameras so far have been issued when no work was taking place.

wow

That is like the "school scameras" that will tag you on a Saturday night in July.

www.stopbigbrothermd.org

I can't stand stop light cameras. I feel that they are mean, and unfair. I had one give me a ticket for not stopping long enough at a red light before I turned right. The law was something like 3 seconds, and I stopped 2.5. There was no other cars at the intersection. Seriously! Come on! Definately a money maker.

reply to post by nixie_nox


ah yes.. the state bringing the definition of...

Highway Robbery

into the 21st century..

reply to post by remyrange


A local radio station here started having people go out and time the yellow lights. There is a minimum amount of time that a yellow light can last.Usually 3.5-4.5 seconds depending on the municipality. One person found the yellow light to only be 1.6 seconds.

6 Cities that were caught shortening yellow lights

Sweet! So my stock in those companies should be rising now, right?

Don't break the law...don't get ticketed. Simple as that.

Yellow does not mean go faster.

What about the cost to install a camera, and the equipment and manpower to run them?

think about the infrastructure needed to deploy and communicate with the device.. somewhere along the line, communications facilities are needed for groups of these cameras, be it verizon or another local exchange carrier that supplies the T1, DS3, or OCx circuits.

A single T1 circuit (1.522mpbs) is sufficient to transport a single video stream and other data, the cheapest the company I work for offers is upwards of $300 per month (MRC)

A DS3 has 28 T1 channels... so it can get VERY expensive for bandwidth, for something as stupid as a speed camera.

Lets not forget the useless infrastructure that is needed for these devices, probably fiber, which we are talking about equipment and installation approaching $250,000 for underground multimode outdoor fiber, poles, concrete, conduit, cable vaults, splice boxes, right of way leasing, ilec transport fees, colo space, electricity, relay rack or server space in a colocation, maintenance, data warehousing,

The list can go on and on. This is not a simple or cheap endeavor, and we are paying for it, so we can get a ticket from a robot, and so a private company can make millions..........that we the taxpayers BOUGHT FOR THEM.

reply to post by TDawgRex


Seriously?

Ever see a yellow light that changes too quick? It causes accidents when people are suddenly screeching on their brakes.

reply to post by sicksonezer0


I heard of a kid who took out a light pole and one of those cameras, and the damages were over 1 million owed to the state. So yea, they are expensive.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by TDawgRex

 

Seriously?

Ever see a yellow light that changes too quick? It causes accidents when people are suddenly screeching on their brakes.

Been there, done that and paid a $348.00 dollar fine for it. First ticket in over thirty years.

I thought I was in the right and being safe as it was raining and I had a guy tailgating me. The cop pulled me over and not the other guy. Such is life.

Normally I like cops...but this guy was a butthead.

reply to post by TDawgRex


wow. 348 is steep. Yes there are the buttheads out there. Once a boyfriend was pulled over by a disgruntled state trooper for stopping too suddenly and making his stuff fly off the seat.

The boyfriend said, you shouldn't of been following so closely.

All the ST could do is stomp off.lol

But besides that one, most of ours are pretty cool.