A little over a month ago I was driving on I-695 in the Baltimore area, and went into an area with construction. Of course they already had the speed cameras up and running.
These speed cameras are paired with a sign that has "YOUR SPEED: xx" and "SPEED LIMIT: xx". After the sign, they have the speed camera.
While I am NO FAN of speed cameras, I think this situation is a particularly insidious instance of their use.
I looked at the sign and noticed it was reading ~10 MPH below my actual speed. It said I was well within the 50 MPH work zone speed limit. There was a vehicle to my left who was going slightly faster it started tracking which it also said was within the speed limit. As soon as we hit the speed camera ZAP it got his picture. He was ticketed despite the sign saying he was within legal limits.
SO, I contacted the State Highway Administration:
Originally Posted by Charles Lohr
They VERY promptly responded (almost to my surprise)
In the mean time I went back to the site and recorded videos. I did so at 1:30 AM and made sure to only take readings when there were NO vehicles anywhere nearby. I recorded one of the sign reporting 39 MPH when I was going 49 (this time verified by GPS). I recorded another of it reading 69 and then 67 when I was going 54 MPH.Originally Posted by SHA
Sure enough they dragged their feet at the actual response.
Originally Posted by SHAResponseOriginally Posted by Charles
Mr. Lohr –
Good afternoon and thanks for your email. We certainly appreciate your interest in our automated speed enforcement (ASE) program.
We are pleased that in eight of the ten circumstances you have described, the speed display equipment provided feedback that matched your observations in your vehicle. At the same time, we also understand the limitations of stationary radar equipment in the high speed, high volume environment of expressways and freeways. That is, the speed display may not register on the equipment in a manner that will reflect all of the approaching vehicles speeds.
We don’t consider this a “fatal flaw,” though. The main purpose of the speed display is to encourage motorists to review/monitor their speed as they travel through work zones, especially where ASE equipment is present. Our office is in the process of conducting additional evaluations of the equipment to determine what may contributed to the displays you documented. This evaluation includes the affect/impact of the two vehicles whose drivers reduced speed in the vicinity of the speed display trailer.
Thanks again for your email. I hope to be able to discuss this matter with you early next week, at the completion of our additional testing. If you’d like to discuss in the meantime, please contact me at 410-787-XXXX or by return email.
Regards,
Michael
I didn't really know where else to go other than the Internet. I don't think this is newsworthy or anything.
I have no idea where to go from here. It's been almost a month since his last email. Who do I contact? Do the people who received a ticket from this speed camera have a prayer in court if they were given this information?
The address to the one video is :
cnlohr.net/random/traffic
The forum won't let me link.
*EDIT* Also: I am particularly alarmed that the SHA claims this sign was within calibration despite it reading completely bogus speeds even when only tracking single cars.
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