WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of drivers zooming through the Suitland Road Bridge work zone area on the Capital Beltway in Prince George’s County, Maryland, are getting caught by the speed cameras in place since last year.
Around 124,477 drivers were ticketed on the Interstate 495 work zone near Joint Base Andrews, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. That’s over $4.9 million in fines.
As part of Maryland’s SafeZones Automated Speed Enforcement system, the speed cameras there started issuing tickets to drivers going 12 mph or more last summer. That stretch of highway is under a 55 mph speed limit; the ticket is a $40 fine.
But, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic, drivers seem to be getting the message of safety as ticket issuing significantly decreased in 2018. For example, on the northbound lanes in the work zone area, around 50,152 speed camera tickets were issued from July 2017 to December 2017. But from January 2018 to July 2018, that number dropped to 27,949 tickets issued, a 44.2 percent decrease, AAA Mid-Atlantic said.
Work continues on the bridges over Suitland Road, which are several decades old and considered structurally deficient. In 2015, although no one was injured, a chunk of concrete fell from one of the bridges and smashed a car’s windshield.
WTOP’s Kristi King and Michelle Basch contributed to this report.
