Three more red light cameras are going up in Rockville, bringing the total to eight.
After April 15, red light violators will face $75 fines if they run red lights or make improper right turns on red at these intersections:
- North Washington Street at Middle Lane
- Park Road at N. Stonestreet Ave. (westbound)
- Gaither Road at Redland Blvd. (northbound)
As with parking tickets, points won’t be assigned to a vehicle owner's driving record and insurance companies can’t use the tickets to calculate premiums.
Rockville has phased out 10 cameras that could only catch red light runners and is in the process of replacing those with newer ones that can catch drivers who make improper right turns.
New cameras are already up at:
- North Washington Street at Beall Avenue (southbound)
- West Gude Drive at Gaither Road (westbound)
- West Gude Drive at Research Blvd. (eastbound)
- West Gude Drive at Research Blvd. (westbound)
- Seven Locks Road at Fortune Terrace (northbound)
Police are evaluating sites for two more.
Number of Violations Down 80 percent
The new camera’s aren’t popular with some drivers, who have complained that they're getting unwarranted tickets if they happen to stop slightly over the stop bar or are making rolling right turns when there's no apparent traffic.
Data collected by the Rockville City Police Department show that five high-tech cameras generated in a few months nearly twice the citations the 10 older cameras produced in a year.
The cameras are projected to bring in $1.9 million in city revenue—more than twice the amount the finance department anticipated for fiscal 2013, according to a finance department report presented in February.
But the number of violations is declining rapidly, down 80 percent over the past seven months—a sign that the cameras are having the desired effect, according to city staff.
"The ultimate goal of the red light camera program is to have the highest level possible of motorist compliance," said Rockville Police Chief T.N. Treschuk in a press release. "We would be glad to see a time when we didn't issue any violations."
I think that some of the money made off of the traffic cameras needs to go into a 3rd party audit of the cameras.
Might as well put crosswalks all along Rockville Pike if this keeps on. Dangerous for both motorists and pedestrians alike, more so, on rainy dark nights. We are ALSO pedestrians when we walk and don't motor around-- but we use the crosswalks. WHO enforces jaywalking ordinance?