Prince George’s County residents who live near Maryland Route 210 want more speed cameras, or at least they want to hold on to the three servicing the roadway.
A 14-mile stretch of MD-210, sometimes called Indian Head Highway, from D.C. to the Charles County Line has experienced dozens of fatal crashes in recent years.
In a Monday night traffic safety committee Zoom meeting, safety advocates asked neighbors to support a bill in the Maryland House that would renew the law allowing the cameras.
“Right now, we have a sunset of Sept. 30 of this year. If this bill doesn’t pass we lose the three speed cameras that we have, so this bill is vital,” said Ron Weiss, a leader of the MD 210 Traffic Safety Committee.
House Bill 431 would boost fines on speeders, based on a sliding scale — higher fines for higher speeds. It would also impose higher fines for multiple violations in a two-year period. The bill is scheduled for a hearing in the House Environment and Transportation Committee on Thursday.
The second bill that will go before the panel Thursday, House Bill 435, would renew the law allowing the current three mobile speed enforcement cameras. It would also expand automated speed enforcement on the highway.
“It would give us the ability to have up to 10 speed cameras on Maryland 210,” Weiss said.
Residents at the online session also raised concern over a recent NBC Washington investigation that found the speed cameras may not be catching and citing hyper speeders going more than 90 miles an hour. Hopes were raised that any camera technical shortcomings would not stand in the way of adding more cameras, which residents said have effectively reduced some speeding on the road.
Another safety committee leader said a letter had been sent to Gov. Wes Moore, asking that a more than 20-year-old agreement that assigns traffic enforcement on the roadway to Prince George’s County Police, thus relieving Maryland State Police, be rescinded.
“We have absolutely no involvement in enforcement of Maryland State troopers. Zero. This is a state road,” said Rev. Robert Screen of Fort Washington, who said two previous requests for regular state police presence on the highway went unanswered by former Gov. Larry Hogan.
