[markomalley]

This will never fly; DC likes this as a commuter tax. They won't give up $140 million per year in revenue without a fight.

For those who don't do DC traffic much, a warning: speed cameras in the District used to be pretty easy to spot. In the past few months, they have been hiding them behind bridge pillars, in shrubs, etc. (I got nailed with two $150 "commuter tax assessments" from a camera on 295 and Benning within 2 weeks...got the second "assessment" before I even got the first notice in the mail). I now have joined the legion of people who won't go through the District unless I have a stop I must make inside the District.

[markomalley]

fyi

[Venturer]

I belong to that Legion after paying two $100 dollar fines I just stay the hell out of DC.

There is nothing there I can’t get elsewhere. The one on Branch Avenue got me rolling down the hill, My foot was nowhere near the accelerator.I was nowhere near in a hurry,but 25 is hard to maintain going down that hill.
Oh Well: I paid it and now I just stay away from there.

[sphinx]

Yes, DC uses the cameras to set speed traps. My first misadventure with a speed cam was on I-295 at 6:00 a.m. (heading to BWI) on a bright sunny day, perfect driving conditions, not another car on the road. I was going 63. But 295 is an urban interstate, and the speed limit is 45. That's on an interstate highway, folks. No one, ever, drives 45 unless rush hour traffic is jammed up. DC could post a camera and ticket everyone on the road.

DC isn't the only offender. I got caught this past summer in Bowie, on a big open stretch of 301, with no traffic in sight. For out of towners, this road is a divided, dual land, limited access highway. It does have at-grade crossings and occasional stoplights, but it's open driving, and speedcammed to catch the unwary.

Lest anyone think I am Johnnie Leadfoot, I have never had a traffic citation from a police officer. Only the cameras.

In traditional speed traps, towns at least had to pay the police officer to lurk under cover, munching his donuts while awaiting his victims. Now the camera does the dirty work.

I have no objections to speed cams in residential neighborhoods where chronic speeding is a danger to pedestrians. Nor would I object to policing the red light jumpers. But that's not where DC concentrates its efforts.

[bgill]

It’s nothing to do with public safety but all about $$$.

[TankerKC]

295 in DC is a trap from start to end.