After years of crashes and neighborhood advocacy, speed cameras will be coming to residential parts of Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Legislation passed by Maryland’s General Assembly earlier this year allowed for the speed cameras to be installed on residential roads in the county that have speed limits up to 35 mph.
Prince George’s County Council members Derrick Leon Davis and Tom Dernoga then sponsored a piece of legislation to act on the new authority granted to them by the state’s General Assembly. It was passed by the council during its meeting Tuesday.
Dernoga acknowledged the residents along Briggs Chaney Road for their advocacy for the changes at the north end of the county.
In a statement, Davis thanked Dernoga and the General Assembly for allowing this change before turning his attention toward the community.
“Most of all, I thank Fairwood Community because there were two tragic incidents that occurred in that community that compelled the effort to make this happen over the last five years,” Davis said. “We look forward to making our streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists using the tools we’ve been given.”
One of the deaths that took place in Fairwood, which is a part of Bowie, was when 14-year-old Kamal Nashid was struck and killed by a car while jogging through a crosswalk along Church Road two years ago.
The former winding, country road has a 30 mph speed limit. But the new neighborhoods built around it and its connection to Route 50 caused the county to widen Church Road — and invited more traffic in the process. More development is planned for that stretch.
Currently, the county operates speed cameras in school zones and around certain institutes of higher education. Fines are given out when drivers exceed the posted speed limit by 12 mph, and are typically $40.
Before the first speed camera can be installed, the county needs to hold at least one public hearing.
