xml:space="preserve">
xml:space="preserve">
Advertisement
Advertisement

Catonsville camera catches speeders, but residents still feel unsafe

A Catonsville camera catches speeders, but residents still feel unsafe.

A stunning number of warnings and citations indicates the speed camera installed two months ago in the 500 block of South Rolling Road is working.

Advertisement

But some in the area feel it could be doing a better job somewhere else.

In the 30-day probationary period after the speed camera was installed Oct. 3, police said 2,486 warnings were issued to drivers for exceeding the 30 mph speed limit by more than 12 mph.

Advertisement
Advertisement

From Nov. 3 to 14, when the warnings were replaced by citations accompanied by fines, 991 $40 tickets were issued, said Cathy Batton, a spokeswoman for county police.

Still, South Rolling Road resident Martin Haggerty remains concerned about a possible tragedy as drivers speed down the road, some nearly doubling the 30-mile-per-hour limit, he said.

"The issue is the speed camera is in the wrong place," said Haggerty, who said four accidents have occurred in front of his residence in the 400 block of South Rolling in the last 16 months alone. "The whole problem we have is they have done nothing in our neighborhood."

Councilman Tom Quirk, who represents the 1st District that includes Catonsville, echoed Haggerty's sentiment.

"I would love to see the camera moved closer to Newburg (Avenue)," Quirk said, "Where the camera is right now, you have the stop light. The stop light slows people down."

Quirk said he has no control over the location of the speed camera, but has expressed his desire to Police Chief James Johnson for county police to move the camera.

"We know that some residents in Catonsville preferred a different location," said Elise Armacost, a spokeswoman for Baltimore County police, in an email. "We could not consider that location, primarily because of right-of-way issues and because of concerns about the flash adversely affecting residents.

She added that county police have no plans to move the camera from its spot on Rolling Road between the traffic signal at Bloomsbury Avenue and the signal at Valley Road at this time.

The first-term Democrat said that when he campaigned door to door, one of the primary concerns of residents, regardless of political affiliation, was speeding.

"There's a lot of families that live on Rolling Road," he said, noting the presence of the speed cameras, such as one on Sulphur Spring Road in Arbutus near Arbutus Elementary and Arbutus Middle schools have changed his driving habits.

"It's one thing to speed on (Interstates) 95 or 695," he said. "It's another thing to speed in someone's backyard almost."

He said one of his first bills upon taking office a year ago was removing the cap on the number of speed cameras the county could deploy, which had been set at 15.

Quirk added that he supports cameras only in school zones and neighborhoods.

State law requires the cameras to be located in school zones and operate only from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The cameras do remain operational throughout the year.

Under state law, the county must designate money collected from the citations to public safety programs.

Recommended on Baltimore Sun

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement