MD - Tickets Mailed To Speeders In Construction Zones

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Tickets Mailed To Speeders In Construction Zones

Reporting
Mike Schuh
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― Click to enlarge1 of 1
More than 1,000 tickets have been sent out to drivers who were caught speeding in construction zones in Maryland. CBS

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More than 1,000 Marylanders are being notified they recently broke the law.

Mike Schuh reports automated speed cameras have arrived on some area interstates.


Drivers are given fair warning. In fact, in Towson there are four large billboards telling drivers the state is going to take your picture when you speed through the construction zone at Charles Street.


"They're set up and calibrated along the work zone and they shoot radar just like a normal police officer doing speed enforcement would be doing," said Valerie Burnette Edgar, State Highway Administration.


But the speeder isn't chased down. Instead, a ticket is mailed. A camera has been placed inside a parked SUV. The cameras stay on the job to catch those going too fast.


"Anybody driving through should know they're going to get a ticket if they drive 12 miles or over, because there are monster size signs telling you that it's photo enforced," said Burnette Edgar.


Drivers are given a 12-mile an hour cushion and they're only allowed in work zones. They've found a lot of speeders in the first 15 days.


Tickets have been issued to at least 1,400 violators.


This is a pilot program with only two trucks in three locations. The cameras are at Charles and the Beltway, the I-95 construction zone north of the tunnels and on I-95 in Prince George's County.


The state says this system is safer for police, workers and drivers.


"Law enforcement cannot do a lot because of restricted lanes and barrels, so this allows us on high speed roads to hopefully influence behavior and slow down," Burnette Edgar said.


The fine for the tickets is $40.

The pilot program ends this spring. By then the state hopes to more than double the number of mobile radar units, bringing the total to five.


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