Nothing wrong with increasing the # of camereas-but to remove the cap completely with less that a year data is irresponsible-

Officers giving out less citations isn't the figure people should be looking at. We should be looking at the RATE of citations.

This is too bad-I suggest everyone download "trapster" to their smart phone-it gives up to date locations of all speed cameras across the nation, the Escort 9500IX is a GPS based radar detector that does the same thing as Trapster. Fight technology with technology!

"We have every intention of bidding out this contract," Mohler said, adding that he could not provide a specific time line for when that would occur."

"It's complicated to put out a bid of this magnitude," Mohler said.

Mr. Mohler, I eagerly awate your actions to resolve this complicated issue. This is part of your job and you are compensated nicely for your efforts.

I hope the Council Members that voted for this bill do not actually believe their own hype about these cameras. This was political pay-back for campaign donations by the Corrupt Democrat Baltimore County Political Machine. Plain and simple.
They will not stop until this program pays for itself with our money- get set for a Speed camera on every corner. Try to find a space in this county that is not within a mile of a school of some kind. Next its day-care centers, then senior living centers, then comes apartment homes, and shopping centers.
In the end the five Council Members that voted for this just took our democracy one step closer to the Socialist Nanny State where individual liberty is replaced with government oversight. Sleep tight Baltimore County the fox is already in the hen house!

Gosh, how hard is it to drive within 10 miles over the speed limit -- especially in school zones!??? Someone told me this is nothing but a new tax!?! WHAT? A tax is something you must pay.... you buy something, you must pay sales tax; you buy property, you must pay property tax... YOU SPEED, YOU CHOOSE to break the law and yes then you pay the penalty but you CAN slow down, be safe, allow school zones to be safer.
MY OBJECTION to the cameras is the amount we pay the company! THEY should NOT be getting more than 50%! Why are we NOT negotiating ASAP for a decent contract? Why are we not demanding equipment that is providing reliable, clear pictures? WHY are we letting these companies get rich while we provide all the customers?
I've said this before, you don't like speed cameras? SLOW DOWN and you will put the company out of business... and the purchase of the cameras by the government will NOT be profitable!

Eight-one percent of every dollar goes to the contractor supplying the cameras? How wasteful! How about an old fashioned non-technological solution like speed bump and enhanced signage. Permanent, easily installed--break the law and it's your vehicle that is harmed.

If ACS were a publically-traded company, its shares would go through the roof today. The driving force behind the forthcoming explosion in the number of cameras and tickets issued will be ACS's profit motive (81 cents on each dollar fined), rather than safety. If the cameras were owned by local government (e.g., the public), there'd be some viable measure of accountability -- no pun intended -- and a plausible measure of responsibility vis-a-vis the number and placement of cameras. As it stands, this is an incredible windfall for ACS. I'm sure champagne corks were flying at their digs last night...

I smell a lawsuit.

Thank you Patch for keeping up on this issue and posting how each councilmember voted. Many times the council votes on laws important to citizens but, no one knows about the vote and miss the time to provide input into the issue.

I am in no way a lawyer, but if one of you is, please answer these questions:

-How can a speed limit infraction be treated differently depending on who observes you-a cop or a camera-a camera issues to the owner-a cop issues to the driver

-Does the state saying that it's "ok" to exceed the posted speed limit by 11mph prevent a police officer for writing a ticket for a speed limit infraction below that number?

-Why is the fine imposed different? The cameras charge $40-an officer can impose a different fine-why no points on your record from a camera?

Speed cameras are just one piece of the safety campaign. The community should also focus on motorists who refuse to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks and property owners and businesses that refuse to remove snow and ice from their sidewalks. If the police would issue citations for these offenses, 100% of the fines would be returned to the community instead of lining the pockets of a firm in Texas. Right now, we have motorists who are driving too fast in school zones, and students who need to walk in the street because some of the sidewalks are still covered with ice (long after the storm).

I agree with Mike Pappas's comments above. The use of these cameras will continue to grow because it represents a significant income stream to the local government, even at 20 percent of the proceeds. I would much rather see us use speed bumps and traffic calming device, which have the added benefits of employing people to build such structures and punishing those that speed anyway. The increased use of cameras is too Big Brotherish to me. I received a red light ticket recently after going through an extremely short yellow light on a six-lane major road. It was not located near a school or other sensitive zone. I was told not to fight it because they have the "proof;" a $75 ticket. Cha-ching. Cha-ching.

Glad this was approved. Don't like speed cameras? Here's an idea - DON"T SPEED.

Typical speed cameras are only calibrated to go off situationally (not if you're going 2 mph over). The speed cameras on the interstates, for example, are generally calibrtaed to go off if you're 10-12 mph over.

I think speed cameras are an excellent tactic because it allows the county/state to raise revenue at the expense of law violators (instead of proportionally raising taxes on everyone accordingly). Meanwhile, the law violators don't have permanent damage done to their driving record. These type of tickets are never worth points, just a flat fine that eventually works great as a deterrent.
No need to go to court, or be penalized in the longer term due to insurance rate hikes that an actual ticket from a police officer can entail.

Doug, while you at it, please think about adding the voting records of our local legislators in the asylum in the varied and important issues that will start coming to a reader near you.

We are looking at some important ones, e.g. county funding, education, pensions, immigration, in-state tuition, let me catch my breath. Break it down the way you break down the coverage of the various communities.

Those interested in areas other than theirs can visit and take a look.

Then stand back and watch the hits, on the site that is, and then put your ear plugs in and fasten your seat belt.

smile..... you're on candid camera.just another step towards big brother government.And don't the democrats just love to grab your money..thanks to the two republicans for their efforts.

This Speed Camara flack is going to grow.. we begged for speed bumps in my Cockeysville Neigh a few years ago, the County said no because it would hurt the snow plows...now they wrap themselves in the flag of public safety .... its money ... plain and simple

What are the salaries being paid to Kamenetz's " cabinet" Buzz? How do they compare to other jurisdictions? Do you even know or are you just venting again?

I cannot agree that this is about money. In Catonsville, which is Tom Quirk's district, (Tom introduced the bill) those of us who live on or near Rollong Road near two schools have been arguing for help with reckless speeding for years and the folks I speak to are in favor of the bill. Many of us, including numerous students, walk. Folks won't let their kids play near the front yards because cars have actually flipped over in yards. One of the drivers who flipped her car said it wasn't her first time. We hpoe that speed cameras will change behavior. Traffic signals seem to exacerbate the problem with drivers speeding up to beat the light. Speed traps are helpful, but are sporadic and divert the officers from other duties. Obviously, the cameras won't change everyone's behavior, in our community we hope that it will slow down the general flow.

I can NOT WAIT..for these speed cameras. Maybe then the guy in his 60k CTS-V who bothered to roll down his window and SCOLD THE CROSSING GUARD for taking to long (in his opinion) safely cross the children at Oakleigh and White Oak won't cut through our neighborhood because he sure as heck doesn't live here.

The Democrat-dominated Council had a chance to exhibit their ability to work in a bi-partisan fashion for a bill that would bring safety to needed areas. The original bill was supported by both parties. Instead, Democrats went too far, enabling the county to install an "unlimited" amount of cameras throughout the county. There is no question that some residents in some locations wanted cameras -- they should get them. However, we now have an over-reaching law that will, over time, be used to bring more dollars into state and county coffers.

Buzz,

What in the world do "illegals" have to do with speed cameras? You have "illegals" on the brain.