75,000 Speed Camera Tickets In Capital Beltway Work Zone: AAA

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD -- The state has made some serious bank on commuters on the Capital Beltway in Prince George's County, issuing nearly 75,000 speed camera tickets in just a few months, AAA says in a new report.

The tickets were issued to speeding motorists in the Suitland Road Bridge work zone on the Outer and Inner loops of the Beltway (I-95/I-495) in PG County, according to data reviewed by AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Those fines amounted to a staggering $3 million over the six-month period between July to December. Drivers who exceeded the work zone speed limit by 12 miles per hour or more (the speed limit is 55 mph) were tagged by the speed cameras.

Throughout the entire state, the work zone speed camera program has pulled in $115.7 million in revenue since 2010, AAA states.

“Year-in and year-out, speed cameras have proven to be an effective deterrent in combating speeding violations and curbing reckless behavior in work zones in Maryland,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs, in a statement. “Six persons perished and several others sustained serious and life-threatening injuries in work zone crashes in Maryland in 2017. In the last five years between 2012 and 2016, a total of 34 persons lost their lives in work-zone related crashes in Maryland.”

Nearly 48,000 tickets were issued for drivers on northbound 495 at Suitland Road Bridge, while the remaining 27,055 were issued for southbound I-495 at Suitland Road.

"Following a 21-day warning period that started July 17, 2017, the Maryland State Police and the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) began issuing citations on August 7, 2017," the statement adds. "The dual bridge replacement project in both directions of the mainline of I-495 is expected to take three years. The aging I-495 overpass bridge on Suitland Road gained a measure of notoriety in February 2015. During the afternoon rush hour, a chunk of concrete from the overpass suddenly gave away and fell upon a vehicle driven by a grandmother. Although she was unharmed, pieces of the bridge shattered her windows."

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