Photo by Chris Rief
Drivers using the K Street NW underpass at Washington Circle really seem to enjoy—or they just can’t avoid—going faster than the 25 mile per hour speed limit in the short tunnel. A pair of traffic cameras in the tunnel raked in $8.1 million in fines in the first seven months of the 2013 fiscal year, according to statistics released by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The Washington Post reports the two cameras have collectively issued 61,061 over the seven-month period, putting that location on pace to have the most lucrative year on record for D.C.’s speed cameras. Although speed cameras have been dinging drivers for 14 years, the program has accelerated in the few; the devices billed $85 million in fines in fiscal 2012.
In the current fiscal year, the 10 most active cameras have recorded $29.5 million in fines. But the Post reports that as drivers become more aware of the cameras’ presence, the program could be diminished, though some analysts think that’s unlikely:
“Does there come a point where the city’s not making money or even losing money? I think that’s a possibility in the long run,” said Anne T. McCartt, senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “That certainly would be the ultimate goal from a safety point of view. In the long run, you would expect violations to go down. That’s the purpose, and that’s going to happen.”
But she doubts speed cameras will grow so effective that they put themselves out of business. “Experience would say that drivers really like to speed; it’s hard to persuade people not to speed,” she said.
As for the K Street cameras’ haul, most of it was by the device monitoring westbound traffic, which accounted for $7.4 million of the take. The eastbound camera took in an additional $700,000.
The No. 2 camera, monitoring southbound lanes on Interstate 295 as it exits the District, has issued 33,495 tickets worth $4.6 million. Last year’s most lucrative camera, on the 600 block of New York Avenue NE, is in third place for tickets issued, with 31,949 valued at $4.7 million. Although the number of tickets issued at that location has decreased, that stretch of New York Avenue is now a work area, where fines are more expensive.
