Past attempts to reform the traffic camera system have been hampered by a harsh reality: the fines they produce bring in significant amounts of revenue, meaning that any push to lower fines would require lawmakers to account for potentially tens of millions of dollars that would stop flowing into city coffers. Critics have said they dole out excessive fines that hit low-income drivers the hardest, while proponents say their effectiveness has been severely limited by the reality that no enforcement mechanism exists to force out-of-state drivers - who commit a majority of traffic violations in the city - to pay the fines. hit a 14-year high in 2021.Īnd in the many years that traffic cameras have been in use, they have been a magnet for criticism from both sides. Despite their use, traffic deaths in D.C. The first-term At-Large lawmaker says she started batting around ideas over the summer for how to improve D.C.'s many traffic cameras, which are touted as one of the city's best tools to tamp down on dangerous driving that can put other pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users at risk. If you are going 25 over the speed limit and you are caught by an camera, should we not also equally assess your record to say that in that moment you were driving recklessly?" asks Henderson. "If you are going 25 over the speed limit and you are caught by MPD, you get a fine and points. While traffic cameras can catch drivers committing many of the same infractions, they only have the ability to assess fines. The bill, authored by Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At Large), would ramp up the consequences for a number of traffic violations by allowing the city to use its cameras to do what police officers can already do when they pull someone over, which is assess points on their driver's license.Ĭurrently, a driver who gets between 10 and 11 points can have their driving privileges suspended for up to 90 days, while 12 points or above will get a license revoked. Council they'd also be able to issue something else: points. The District's many traffic cameras are well-known for slapping drivers with steep fines for everything from speeding to running a red light, but under a new bill introduced in the D.C. The city also uses traffic cameras at red lights and select stop signs. ![]() Department of Transportation didn’t disclose an exact timeline of when these cameras will be installed, but anyone who lives in the District can request traffic enforcement cameras at specific locations via DDOT's website here.There are dozens of speed cameras across D.C., with fines for violations starting at $100 and rising quickly thereafter. Some residents said they’d also like to see other options, like speed bumps and commuter taxes.ĭ.C. And wealthy people who will commit the same infractions, you know they’ll be able to pay it and not change their behavior, so really I don’t think it’ll have the desired effect," Martine Wilson said. "Really, it’s just a tax on the poor who will bear the brunt of it. that there are a lot of cameras, a lot more heavily populated in the poorest wards in the city, and not in some other neighborhoods around," said Jodi Otto, who lives in the area. "I’ve just noticed in my time here in D.C. Maryland lawmakers are considering putting speed cameras on the Intercounty Connector, the 18-mile stretch that connects Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. ![]() Proposal to put speed cameras along the ICC
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