Drivers in Prince George’s and Montgomery County may see speed cameras added to the nearly 20 mile stretch of Maryland Route 200, also known as the Intercounty Connector.
House Bill 811 was introduced by Montgomery County’s delegation in the house and would place two speed cameras somewhere “between each exit ramp” of the ICC.
On Friday, the Maryland General Assembly held a hearing to consider the new bill.
“Especially since the pandemic, the ICC has essentially become a racetrack. It’s basically like Talladega north, where folks are flagrantly and intentionally violating the 60 mile [per hour] speed limit,” said Delegate Vaughn Stewart (D-Montgomery) during the transportation committee hearing.
“There have been a number of times where either motorcycles, or other otherwise just negligent motorists, have sped past me while I was even going, you know, five or 10 miles over the 60 mile per hour speed limit,” said Stewart.
The bill would require the placement of cameras in areas where the Maryland Transportation Authority determined there has been a high number of accidents. Drivers would have to go at least 12 miles per hour over the speed limit to get a ticket.
“The EZ Pass Maryland Transportation Authority data indicate average vehicle speeds at 67 miles an hour in a 60 mile [per] hour zone — more than 10% above the posted speed limit,” said John Seng with the Maryland Coalition for Highway Safety. Seng lives in an Olney neighborhood near the ICC.
“Last week I heard sirens on the road, so I drove out to see what’s going on. Two vehicle crash because the pickup truck flipped around 180 degrees. Fire Rescue police on the scene,” said Seng. “Why are drivers crashing on this fairly straight road? It’s because of excessive speed.”
Republican Maryland Delegate Neil Parrot pushed back on the bill, saying that the ICC should instead see a speed limit increase to 70 miles per hour.
“Studies show that people tend to go with what’s comfortable, not what the speed limit is,” said Parrot. “And actually, if you raise the speed limits to a reasonable amount, oftentimes people drop speeds because they feel that it’s actually a reasonable speed limit.”
Surplus revenue raised from the speed cameras would be used to fund traffic, bicycle and pedestrian safety projects on, or near Maryland Route 200.
