The city of College Park cracked down on speeding on Route 1 along The University of Maryland’s campus, following three pedestrian deaths in the last year.
Maryland’s State Highway Administration decreased Route 1’s speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph effective August 1. According to the College Park’s City Council webpage, speeding tickets will be automatically issued to any vehicles going over 12 mph over the speed limit after a 15-day warning period following August 1.
New speed cameras were installed and began operating on August 15 along Route 1, located northbound between Guilford Drive and Calvert Road, northbound between Pontiac Street and Berwyn Road and southbound between Rossborough Lane and Fraternity Drive.
After a unanimous vote July 15, the College Park City Council expanded speed camera enforcement period to run 24/7. According to the Maryland law, the cameras are typically only allowed to be active from Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in K-12 school zones.
The cameras can issue a ticket at any given time for those violating the speed limit within a half mile radius of the University of Maryland campus perimeter. Police can personally issue speeding tickets to any vehicle driving above above 25 mph speed limit.
Speed violators will receive a $40 ticket in a mail, which must be paid directly to the political subdivision by mail, online or in person.
In a statement made in April 2014, before the speed limit was adjusted, President Wallace Loh put speeding, which is sometimes overlooked, into another perspective when he said, “Reduce your car speed by just 5 miles per hour, because it can make the difference between hospitalization and death in case of an accident.”
“[The speeding cameras] are very much needed in this area to enforce people to be more serious about cautious driving,” sophomore undeclared major Rachel Snyder said. “A lot of the times I think they are useless and awful, but in College Park they’re pretty necessary.”
“I think the close attention paid to speeding now will keep the students and other pedestrians much safer,” sophomore kinesiology major Jenni LaGrossa commented. “Drivers should be a lot more cautious of how fast they are going in an area like Route 1 near campus. At the same time, students and other pedestrians have to be safe and obey laws too.”
In addition to speeding, police are issuing citations for jaywalking, standing on the corners of Route 1 and Knox Rd most evenings, to those who violate pedestrian rules. Maryland’s State Highway Administration is also in the process of installing concrete footers to avoid more pedestrian accidents.
The University will be launching a campaign “Walk Smart College Park” in the future in order to help students better understand road safety.
According to University of Maryland Department of Public Safety’s crime statistics page, six violations were recorded dealing with traffic arrests and disorderly conduct in the last week. Four more people were arrested for DWI/DUI in the same time frame.
Refraining from both speeding and jaywalking can save you tons of money and keep the roads safe. Besides, would you rather have extra money on hand or spend it all on tickets and citations?