Photo by Photos by Chip Py

As we wrote earlier this month, there has been an outcry against 19 new speed cameras that were deployed around the city last year. Now one resident is trying to do something about them.

Fox 5 reported yesterday that an online petition has been started demanding that the fines that come from being caught by one of the speed cameras in the city be lowered to $20 per violation. Currently, fines depend on how far above the speed limit you were traveling — between 1 and 10 miles per hour over, it’s $75; 11 to 15 miles over, it’s $125; 16 to 20 miles over, it’s $150; 21 to 25 miles over, it’s $200; and 26 to 30 miles over, it’s $250.

The rationale for such a dramatic decrease? “If this is really for awareness of speed and safety, a ticket of $20 will have the same effect as a ticket for $150,” states the petition. Maryland’s fines seem to buttress the point — speed in the Old Line State, and it’s only a $40 ticket. (That being said, if you get caught speeding by a police officer in D.C., you can face anywhere between three and five points on your license and a consequent increase in your car insurance premiums.)

The local branch of the AAA doesn’t have much faith that the petition will be successful, though:

This online petition is another way people are trying to fight these hefty fines in the District. But AAA Mid-Atlantic’s John Townsend says D.C. leaders may never address the issue for one big reason.

“Their perception is most of these people who are getting these tickets live outside the District, so we don’t have to worry about them, they can’t vote us in, they can’t vote us out. So it comes down to raw politics,” said Townsend.

According to figures published by the DMV, though, the perception that it’s mostly out-of-state drivers getting tickets seems to be true. During an amnesty on penalties for older unpaid tickets that ended in January, the DMV reported that D.C. drivers were only responsible for 16.78 percent of all tickets, while Maryland and Virginia drivers combined were to blame for more than 60 percent of them. More interestingly, of the 679,000 speed and red light camera violations that were elegible under the amnesty, Maryland drivers were responsible for close to 430,000 of them.

Of course, nothing in this debate is particularly new, nor will either side cede much ground. For opponents, there’s nothing about safety that goes into speed cameras — it’s just an easy way for the District to take money out of the pockets of drivers. But for proponents, including Mayor Vince Gray, the answer seems simple enough — slower cars are safer, and if you don’t want a ticket, just don’t speed.

Until this debate gets settled, though, the best you can do is review the locations of the existing cameras and just slow down if you’re going to be driving by them.