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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/sun-investigates/bs-md-sun-investigates-speed-cam-suspension-20130517,0,2218138.story

Behind the scenes of a decision to shut down speed cameras

By Scott Calvert, The Baltimore Sun
3:30 p.m. EDT, May 18, 2013

The emailed directive went out midmorning April 16 from a Baltimore City traffic engineer: No more speed camera tickets are to be issued from the camera in the 3900 block of The Alameda. Less than five hours later, an engineering supervisor wrote another email, stating that the city's entire speed and red-light camera network was being suspended.

The emails, provided by the city in response to a Public Information Act request, offer a glimpse at how transportation officials made a major decision about a controversial program that has caused recurring headaches for the city and many motorists. This time, a camera was programmed with the wrong speed limit, and there was a problem with how payment options were listed on tickets.

The city says the automated enforcement program was suspended April 15, and records show the reverberations of that decision played out through the following day — after The Baltimore Sun noted a motorist's concern about an errant ticket issued on the Alameda.

On Friday, city transportation spokeswoman Adrienne Barnes said the decision to suspend the program came after a face-to-face meeting with representatives of the city's new vendor, Brekford Corp.

The emails make clear that by April 15, city officials had concerns about Brekford. Acting Transportation Director Frank Murphy emailed top agency officials midday to say that company executives would attend an afternoon meeting "so we can discuss problems."

Murphy did not detail those problems.

The Sun was unaware of the meeting when, on the following morning, it sent transportation officials detailed questions about the Brekford speed camera on The Alameda.

A little over an hour later, city engineer Carlos Vidal emailed Brekford, describing the same problem with the camera and ordering it taken "out of enforcement mode." A Brekford official soon replied that had been done. If the system had been suspended a day earlier, it's not clear why any speed or red-light cameras still would have been in enforcement mode.

Around 3:15 p.m. on April 16, city engineering supervisor Jamie McDonald notified several officials in city government and at Brekford that no more speed and red-light camera tickets would be issued citywide for the indefinite future.

"We are suspending the program as far as approving locations and issuing citations until further notice," he said in an email. "We have all worked hard and made a lot of progress but there are still some issues that we need to address before we can move forward."

A half-hour later, Khalil Zaied — Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's deputy chief of operations — told Murphy to inform Brekford CEO C.B. Brechin of the city's decision. Murphy wrote back, saying he had spoken to another company executive. "I informed him," Murphy said.

The department publicly announced its decision a short while later.

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http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/plaquemines_parish_sheriff_to.html#incart_river

Plaquemines Parish sheriff to withdraw traffic camera proposal after public outcry

Plaquemines Parish Sheriff Lonnie Greco says he will ask the Parish Council to withdraw his proposed ordinance allowing traffic cameras in the parish. (

By Paul Purpura, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune
on May 17, 2013 at 1:39 PM, updated May 17, 2013 at 3:22 PM      Email 
 

Less than a month after he announced he wanted to use mobile traffic cameras http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/04/plaquemines_parish_sheriff_see.html to catch speeders in Plaquemines Parish, Sheriff Lonnie Greco said Friday he is dropping the initiative. "The public outcry against the implementation of the proposed traffic camera system in Plaquemines Parish has led me to withdraw the ordinance that was before the Parish Council," Greco said through a spokesman.

Greco announced his about-face Thursday night during a town hall meeting in Belle Chasse. He said last month that he proposed using Redflex, the controversial company that Gretna and Westwego officials use for their traffic enforcement programs.

"The Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office will explore other avenues to address the speeding problem, in addition to stop sign violations, that are occurring throughout Plaquemines Parish," Greco said .

"I want to personally thank all of the citizens and elected officials who either contacted me or I met with over the last month," he said. "I value and respect everyone's opinion. I ask that drivers on Plaquemines' roadways obey speed limits and stop signs and drive safely."

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune last month that he opposed Greco's proposal. "It takes more money out of residents' pockets and is just another burden on taxpayers," Nungesser said.

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ABD:  Speed Camera Casualty Reduction Claims are False

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Speed-Camera-Casualty-Reduction-Claims-are-False.html?soid=1101441779436&aid=nLfekhB_sQk

Speed Camera Casualty Reduction Claims are False 

Vysionics ITS, makers of SPECS average-speed cameras, have agreed with the Advertising Standards Authority to change their advertising claims, following a complaint from Malcolm Heymer, traffic management adviser to the Alliance of British Drivers [1]. 

Vysionics claimed that SPECS installations "on average reduce KSIs (Killed and Seriously Injured casualties) by more than 70%".  The clear implication of this wording is that the entire reduction in casualties was due to the cameras alone.  As Malcolm Heymer points out, this cannot be the case:

"Road accidents require two or more contributory factors to come together at the same time.  This means there is an element of chance, so accident numbers along a particular section of road will always vary from year to year.  Speed cameras are usually installed after two or three years of above average accident numbers.  There is a very strong chance, therefore, that the numbers would drop again of their own accord anyway.  When they do, the speed cameras undeservedly get the credit.  This is the biggest cause of the exaggerated claims for speed cameras."

Malcolm continues, "Other factors are also involved, especially the national downward trend in casualties, particularly those involving serious injuries and deaths.  For instance, between 2004-06 and 2008-10, KSIs on rural A-roads nationally fell by 26% [2].  In many cases where speed cameras are installed, other engineering improvements are made at the same time.  Even fairly minor changes to junctions, signs and road markings can make a significant difference to accident frequency.  When all these factors are taken into account, there is often no discernible benefit from speed cameras at all."

The ABD's deputy chairman, Brian Gregory, concludes, "This is long overdue recognition that the claims of the whole speed enforcement industry are exaggerated and self-serving.  The huge increase in speeding penalties in recent years has contributed nothing to the downward trend in casualties which, since 2008, has been largely due to the economic downturn.  A similar downward trend has been seen in other developed countries, regardless of whether they use speed cameras.  The main cause of road accidents is inattention, so this is where road safety policies should be focussed."

ENDS

Notes:

[1] Basic information on the complaint will be published on the ASA's website, www.asa.org.uk, on Wednesday, 22 May 2013.

[2] Calculated from Road Casualties GB 2011, Table 5c.  Department for Transport.

Attachments:

File	Description
Speed-Camera-Casualty-Reduction False 5.2013.pdf

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http://www.mddriversalliance.org/2013/05/brekford-to-refund-camera-fines-over.html

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Brekford To Refund Camera Fines Over Hagerstown Calibrations

More bad news for speed camera contractor Brekford Corp, who will have to refund $54,000 worth of speed camera citations after it was discovered that the calibration of speed cameras they deployed in Hagerstown did not meet state requirements for calibration.

A provision of state law requires all speed cameras to be "certified" according to a manufacturer specification ever year by an "independent calibration laboratory".  We previously reported in March how annual calibration certificates which were obtained from the city of Hagerstown had in fact been issued by the manufacturer of the device http://www.mddriversalliance.org/2013/03/laurel-hagerstown-circumvent.html, not an independent lab. 

Now, WJLA reports that a motorist challenging a speed camera citation issued on Northern Avenue in Hagerstown uncovered the fact that "Brekford, the contractor which runs the Hagerstown speed control system, had not independently calibrated the camera as is required every year."    The city has since revealed two other cameras with the same issue, and agreed to refund 808 of the citations.

The citations the city has agreed to refund constitute only a small percentage of the tickets issued by Hagerstwon without independent certifications.  Hagerstown speed cameras had issued approximately $1 million worth of tickets as of February 2013 http://articles.herald-mail.com/2013-02-02/news/36710285_1_brekford-school-zones-first-cameras.  The same issue with Hagerstown's cameras was also noted in calibration certificates the Maryland Drivers Alliance obtained from the City of Laurel.

Brekford corp was recently the topic of bad news when a new set of errors were discovered in Brekford speed cameras deployed in Baltimore City http://www.mddriversalliance.org/2013/04/baltimore-camera-program-shut-down.html, temporarily shutting down the city's speed camera program.  Brekford also was the contractor for Fairmount Heights, whose speed cameras were recently shut down http://www.mddriversalliance.org/2013/05/fairmount-heights-speed-cameras-may.html after it was discovered that town failed to obtain required permits from the county before deploying them.  Brekford is also engaged in a lawsuit with speed camera supplier Sensys America http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4010.asp over a contract dispute.
Brekford Corp is also the speed camera contractor for Salisbury, Greenbelt, Capitol Heights, Morningside, and Landover Hills.

(Ban the Cams note: Sensys in Sweden denies connections in Sensys America that is run by previous Sensys top executive:  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4013.asp

Quote:  "Even the sensysamerica.com website, which was registered in April 2009, runs on the Swedish firm's servers. Despite the close ties, Sensys insists the entities are wholly separate.")

The Maryland Drivers Alliance STRONGLY encourages everyone who contests a speed camera citations to file a Maryland Public Information Act request with the jurisdiction issuing the citation requesting the daily and annual calibration logs. You should do so more than 30 days in advance of your court hearing in order to give you time to examine the logs BEFORE your court hearing.  We have created a sample MPIA request letter https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1e8Zo-xJDL2QXNsci1uZmRyTEU/edit?usp=sharing which you can update and use.  We will be happy to help you analyze any records you receive.

Additional Coverage:

Washington Post: Contractor’s lax inspection of speed cameras leads to $27,000 in refunds in Hagerstown, Md. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/contractors-lax-inspection-of-speed-cameras-leads-to-54000-in-refunds-in-hagerstown-md/2013/05/15/465e898e-bd6a-11e2-b537-ab47f0325f7c_story.html
WTOP: Speed camera firm refunding $27K in Hagerstown http://www.wtop.com/41/3322776/Refunds-coming-from-some-Md-speed-cams

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Bus lane scamera cites motorists who moved over to let emergency vehicle by!

(Ban the Cams note:  This is not the only time innocent motorists were cited letting emergency vehicles by.  Here is one on motorists cited by a RLC moving out of the way to let a police vechicle by.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1204944/Driver-gets-60-fine-moving-yard-red-light-let-police-van-999-pass.html)

Motorist who pulled into bus lane to let fire engines on emergency call pass is hit with £30 penalty

• Ian Pemble, 67, paid penalty after council officers sent him photos
• But he asked for further evidence and took it to an appeal

By Luke Salkeld
PUBLISHED: 04:35 EST, 16 May 2013 | UPDATED: 19:40 EST, 16 May 2013

A Motorist who pulled over into a bus lane to give way to two fire engines was fined £30.

Ian Pemble paid the charge after council officers sent photographic evidence of him apparently breaking the law.

However, when the 67-year-old asked for further proof, he was sent footage which showed two fire engines racing past his car seconds after he moved into the bus lane.

Mr Pemble appealed against the fine and has now had his money back, together with an apology from Bristol City Council.

They admitted officers issued the penalty without fully considering the circumstances on the A4 in the city last month.

Mr Pemble, a music journalist, said: ‘I  knew I was in the area but I wasn’t sure whether I had just nipped into the lane at the last moment.

The pictures got me thinking about  where they put the cameras and whether they are at the end purposefully to catch people out.’

He continued: ‘I paid my fine. But I was so annoyed with them and I know my rights, so I asked for more evidence.

‘And it was lucky I did because when they sent through the video, it clearly shows me moving out of the way of two fire engines.’

Mr Pemble, who lives in Bristol, added:  ‘I nearly fell off my chair when I saw  the video for the first time. It came as quite a surprise.

‘I was absolutely delighted to find I was squeaky clean and a good boy. You can’t have a better excuse than that.’

Yesterday a spokesman for Bristol City Council said: ‘The council is to refund Mr Pemble’s penalty charge.

‘The team have reviewed the footage and it is clear that he had moved into the bus lane for a fire engine.’

She added: ‘Actions by motorists to allow access for emergency services occur regularly and they are normally picked up when the footage is examined prior to a Penalty Charge Notice being issued.
‘However, it was missed in this instance  in error. We will write to Mr Pemble  to apologise.

‘Motorists who believe they have received a penalty in error should always appeal.The council is happy to review any case and cancel the charge where appropriate.’