Maryland lawmakers will consider new reciprocity agreements with other states around speed camera violations.
Right now, out-of-state drivers might get tickets for speed cameras around the state of Maryland, but it’s often hard to get them to pay up. In fact, hundreds of thousands of people ticketed by cameras for speeding through Maryland highway work zones have simply ignored the tickets with little consequence.
The number of people who have done so similarly with tickets from county and municipal governments remains unknown.
It’s possible that could all change.
A bill that state lawmakers will consider in Annapolis, at the behest of the governor’s office and the Maryland Department of Transportation, would allow the state to begin entering into what are known as “reciprocity agreements” with other jurisdictions. That means someone from out of state who blows by a speed camera in Maryland and ignores the ticket would now have to worry about being able to reregister their vehicle in their home state if Maryland reaches an agreement with that jurisdiction.
The flip side is someone who zooms through a speed camera in the District and ignores the fine would face similar consequences in Maryland. D.C. leaders have been pleading for this for years.
“We do have agreements with peer states for things like speed infractions or other types of roadway infractions, for citations that are produced by the Maryland State Police,” said Joe McAndrew, assistant secretary for project development and delivery at the Maryland Department of Transportation.
The only data on unpaid camera tickets the state has are from the cameras it operates in highway work zones.
“Since 2010, we’ve had 770,000 unpaid work zone speed enforcement citations,” McAndrew said. “Sixty-three percent are attributed to out-of-state vehicles.”
He also admitted that the state has talked with members of the D.C. Council about the potential of a reciprocity agreement.
“We have porous borders. Our roads connect,” McAndrew said. “And we’d like to make sure that what we would expect one to do inside of the state of Maryland, our residents would do the same in D.C. or other peer states as well.”
However, McAndrew said this isn’t about money but safety, citing data that he said proves speed and stop sign cameras make roads safer.
“Roadway fatalities and serious crashes result and get more severe as speeds increase,” McAndrew said. “So, if we can decrease the speed, we have a greater likelihood that one will not die, and that property damage and bodily harm will be reduced.”
While the governor’s office is the one pushing this bill, historically, the legislature has been reluctant to expand speed camera powers too quick. The Senate version of the legislation has its first hearing scheduled for next week.
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