No Plans to Move Speed Camera, Police Say
Montgomery County police have no plans to move a Jones Bridge Road speed camera that, a district court judge ruled, is improperly placed.
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The Montgomery County Police Department has no plans to remove a speed camera in the 4300 block of Jones Bridge Road that a district court judge ruled was improperly placed.
Officer Rebecca Innocenti told Patch that "there will be no specific changes made to the [speed camera] program" and there are "no plans to remove that camera in the area of Jones Bridge [Road]"—between Wisconsin and Connecticut avenues.
The ruling resulted from a court session in which a $40 speeding fine—issued on Sept. 5, 2012, with the help of photos from the camera—was invalidated by District Court Judge John Moffett, according to a police department statement disputing the ruling.
The fine was issued to attorney Robin Ficker—who has a law office in Bethesda—and who represented himself during Monday's court session. Ficker measured the distance between the camera and the nearest residence, and found that the distance was greater than it should be, he said, for the camera to be properly placed.
According to the Maryland Code, a speed-monitoring system may be placed on a highway in a residential district with a maximum posted speed limit of 35 mph (the speed limit must have been established using "generally accepted traffic-engineering practices"), or in an established school zone, police said in a statement, Patch reported.
"The law ... states that [a] speed camera [being placed in a residential district] must be placed on a roadway that contains at least 300 feet of residences, not that the speed camera must be placed within 300 feet of a residence," according to the police statement.
But Ficker said that the placement of the speed camera in the 4300 block of Jones Bridge Road doesn't follow the spirit of the law.
The nearest residence to the camera, he said, was 900 feet, while the law, as he interpreted it, "says that cameras can be put on highways where for 300 feet you have mostly residences. ... Not only are there not mostly residences within 300 feet [in the area of Jones Bridge Road where the speed camera was located], there are no residences at all within 300 feet. There are no residences at all within 600 or 900 feet," Ficker told Patch.
"I won my case with that argument. The judge looked at the statue and saw that there are supposed to be residences within 300 feet," Ficker said.
Ficker added that he thought the police and county were "overreaching" in their definition of what a residential district is for the purposes of installing a speed camera in a residential district. "They’re trying to stretch the definition of residential district to mean that you can put speed cameras anywhere along a 10-mile road as long as there is a 300-foot section somewhere along the road where there are residences," he said.
"I read ... [that when the] speed camera law was enacted ... the Legislature was trying to protect people going in and out of residences and in and out of schools, which seemed reasonable," Ficker said.
"I think that the county needs to realize what the intent of the Legislature was: to protect people going in and out of residences and going in and out of schools. … Not to put a camera in every place where the police think people are speeding up because they’re going down a hill or there are open areas," he said.
Ficker added, "I’m glad I won, and I hope that they take down those improper cameras, and I think that [the police] should put a sign up there saying, 'We’re sorry, we made a little boo-boo and we’re going to refund the money.' "
Innocenti said that while there are no plans to remove the speed camera that singled out Ficker's car, "there's constantly a reevaluation of the whole [speed camera] program" in Montgomery County.
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Noell Sottile
7:45 am on Friday, January 18, 2013
Don't like speed cameras? There's a simple way to make them useless and avoid paying for tickets from them--DON'T SPEED. This lawyer can jump up and down and have a legalese hissy fit as much as he likes, but the fact of the matter is that you have to be driving at least 10 miles over the speed limit to trigger one of these cameras, and in my opinion that's really fast for this more urban than suburban, rapidly developing area that has within a mile, a hospital, residential areas, a park, and a school along with a lot of traffic.
StopBigBrotherMD
11:52 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
FALSE!!! Innocent people do get speed camera tickets. It is a PROVEN FACT which has been ADMITTED by speed camera contractor Xerox Corp that innocent people have SYSTEMATICALLY gotten speed camera tickets in Baltimore. You only need to be ACCUSED of speeding to get a scamera ticket.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/sun-investigates/bs-md-speed-camera-stopped-car-20121212,0,6559038.story
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-12-14/news/bs-md-speed-camera-error-rate-20121214_1_camera-tickets-camera-contractor-xerox-state
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1e8Zo-xJDL2OWp0S1B5cmxhWVE/edit
And FYI, Baltimore uses the same contractor as Chevy Chase... the only difference is that baltimore's cameras were producing video so it was actually possible for the Baltimore Sun to establish a pattern of errors. If the same thing happened in Chevy Chase, nobody would be able to prove it and the drivers would all be presumed guilty if they tried to contest them (in exactly the way you were presuming guilt when you wrote that), and the town would simply deny the errors.
Richard Boltuck
9:28 am on Friday, January 18, 2013
Last time I perused the Maryland State Constitution, it is the judiciary that interprets the meaning of the law, not the police department. It seems to me the police department's position refusing to correct what has been found properly to be its error in placement of the camera, is an act of arrogance and disrespect for the rule of law. I hope this decision by the police is reconsidered promptly and that more rational heads prevail.
Richard Rice
11:31 am on Friday, January 18, 2013
I have no problem with speed cameras. There is absolutely no excuse for Mr.
Ficker or anyone else to be speeding in this area. If he thought he had to
speed to get to a meeting; simple solution. Leave earlier! It's not rocket science.
Dick
7:40 am on Saturday, January 19, 2013
I am not against properly placed speed cameras. I am opposed to the arrogance of government officials who believe they are above the law. What a poor example to our children who will take from this it is OK for the government to break the law but not them.
Amy Deane
9:24 am on Saturday, January 19, 2013
The whole "ten mile over" trigger is a falacy and although sometimes the case, not always true. Especially when the camera malfunctions and takes a picture every few seconds, capturing nearly every car passing by, noting the actual speed traveled, and generating tickets for any miles over the posted limit (even as low as 3 miles over). This is based on actual personal experience with a camera on K St in DC headed in the direction of Canal Rd. The police, issuing authority and judges don't care that you got a ticket when it wasn't working as designed. All they care about is that you generated $120 revenue for the city AKA their paycheck.
Michelle Brown
7:16 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013
Amy, The camera in this case was not "malfunctioning." D.C. issues tickets for going even one mile over the speed limit, while MD has some leeway. It pays to be aware of the various traffic laws and how they apply in MD, VA, and DC, respectively. I do agree, however, with the previous posters that there's a simple way to avoid tickets: don't speed in the first place.
StopBigBrotherMD
12:22 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Michelle:
http://www.stopbigbrothermd.org/2012/12/emails-reveal-more-prior-complaints.html
http://www.stopbigbrothermd.org/2012/11/baltimore-saw-previous-problem-with.html
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/sun-investigates/bs-md-speed-cameras-mainbar-20121117,0,4657438.story
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1e8Zo-xJDL2OWp0S1B5cmxhWVE/edit
The statement "Don't Speed and you won't get a ticket" has been PROVEN to be false.
Chevy Chase uses the same contractor as Baltimore. The only reason the situation in Baltimore made news is that the city "made the mistake" of having VIDEOS of violations, making it possible to prove a pattern of errors. That is not the case in Chevy Chase... if someone were to allege an error from Chevy Chase nobody would believe them and the local press would take no interest.
Brigitta Mullican
9:42 am on Saturday, January 19, 2013
There is unfairness by our government because officials are not always right. I have observed a camera taking pictures at an intersections when cars are stopped at a red light. What is that about? Then I observed a car going through a "not turn on red" and didn't see the camera flash. Those cameras do fail at times and citizens have no recourse. It certainly is a money revenue generated process. Only rich counties can afford these cameras.
John
1:35 pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013
Besides this being an example of the police department being arrogant and unwilling to follow the law, it is an example of a very poorly-worded, vague statute - obviously, too vague for the police department to comprehend and apply correctly. Also, some of the foregoing comments are examples of citizens who believe in taking the law for granted, if they believe the ends justify the means.
FairTaxAdvocacy
8:22 pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013
These cameras are causing distracted driving by people looking into bushes and trees along side road instead of the road itself, stamping on brakes suddenly, and all "safe" cameras need to all go. Everyone hates and despises them. Now we see people driving at 25mph everywhere, even along roads posted for 50mph - because that way they see they avoid all tickets. Put these cameras on a ballot and everyone will vote "No thank you". At least with tools like Waze.com you can fight back - recording where all cameras are hiding and giving in car alerts to drivers.
FairTaxAdvocacy
8:23 pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013
These cameras are causing distracted driving by people looking into bushes and trees along side road instead of the road itself, stamping on brakes suddenly, and all "safe" cameras need to all go. Everyone hates and despises them. Now we see people driving at 25mph everywhere, even along roads posted for 50mph - because that way they see they avoid all tickets. Put these cameras on a ballot and everyone will vote "No thank you". At least with tools like Waze apps you can fight back - recording where all cameras are hiding and giving in car alerts to drivers.
Michelle Brown
7:22 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013
I agree with the previous posters who said that if you want to save money, don't speed. As for distracted drivers, the biggest threat is not people watching for cameras (i.e. law-abiding drivers) but people on their cell phones in flagrant violation of the law. Just two days ago, I was walking home from the Metro and was nearly run over by a woman who was texting at a 4-way stop and started to drive without looking up (hopefully the hard cover book in my purse left an indentation in the hood of her car). But I digress...
Biker
11:55 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013
People distracted texting is another issue, its hardly an excuse for authorities to deliberately cause more distractions for drivers. We are talking here about dubious tactics including trickery and stealth by hiding cameras outside sight lines, paint camouflage, and deliberately frequent moving them. See banthecams dot org for all the trickery in Baltimore and by the State to prevent a referendum. Nice. Just in case you are under any illusions that this is nothing more than a road tax on frequent users and particularly people who drive to work - who they figure can and will pay these fees.
M. Sullivan
10:41 am on Monday, January 21, 2013
The arrogance of the Montgomery County police in this matter is unbelievable! It is not their job to interpret the law, it is the court's. The court has done so, yet the police refuse to move the camera, based on their own interpretation of the law. They know full well that most people won't take the time from work to fight their ridiculous tickets, regardless of how unreasonable or unfair they are. It's all about the easy money generated for the County. As for those of you "holier than thou" types who are saying "well, just don't speed"; there are some camera locations where the speed limit has been lowered to an unreasonable limit when cameras have been installed. Maybe you should all have your tax returns audited to see just how law-abiding you are!
Gabriel
10:05 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
The holier than thou folks really irritate me! No one is perfect! If you are, I will personally give you a stone.
This is NOT about safety, this is about MONEY! Most speed limits are too low and unreasonable.
Red light cameras... Those are about safety.
Kevin Hicks
11:38 am on Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Regarding the cameras taking pictures every few seconds: I wrote to MCPD regarding a ticket I thought I was issued for a vehicle I had traded in. I provided the date and time I saw the camera flash, my license plate #, etc, and that I thought I was doing 38 in the 35 zone. They reviewed the tape and said I was not issued a ticket, and that the camera calibrates occasionally, taking multiple photos. Whether you support the speed cameras or not, multiple people have pointed out how to avoid the fines...it has to do w/ the speed you drive...