Are speed cameras really making roads safer?
– wtop.com A report from the Montgomery County Council’s Office of Legislative Oversight found that after one year of enforcement, the number of reported collisions near speed camera sites dropped by 28 percent and the percent of vehicles traveling at or below the speed limit improved by 19 percent. Montgomery County Police agree with the report findings. “In the process of reducing speeds, we increase safety and then we decrease collisions. And the collisions that do occur are less severe in nature,” says Capt. John Damskey, director of the Montgomery County Police Traffic Division. The county’s “Safe Speed” program has been in place since early 2007. The program started out with a handful of mobile units and fixed speed cameras. Today, Montgomery County deploys 59 mobile units and has 60 fixed position cameras. In fiscal year 2008, which was the first full year of the speed camera program in the county, the devices generated $12.5 million. In fiscal year 2009, the revenue increased t
