Independent Study finds Montgomery County’s Speed-Camera Program Yields Long-Term Safety Benefits and Serves as National Model

A study released on September 1, 2015 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that “Montgomery County’s speed-camera program has led to long-term changes in driver behavior and substantial reductions in deaths and injuries. The IIHS is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses, deaths, injuries and property damages from crashes on the nation's roads. The study compared speeding in Montgomery County, which began utilizing a Safe Speed automated enforcement program in 2007, to the same time period and similar roads in Fairfax and Arlington counties which do not have speed camera programs.

Comparison safety gains in Montgomery County attributed to the speed-camera program include:

• 19% reduction of the likelihood that a crash would involve a fatality or an incapacitating injury as reported by police officers at the scene; 
• 59% reduction of the likelihood of a driver exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 mph; 
• 39 % reduction of fatal or incapacitating injuries on residential roads with speed limits of 25-35 mph; 
• 27% reduction of fatal or incapacitating injuries on 40 mph roads as a result of the camera program on roads with limits of 35 mph or less; and 
• An additional 30% reduction in the likelihood of a crash involving fatal or incapacitating injury was produced by the “Corridor Approach,” which utilizes more than one camera on a stretch of roadway.

Read more about the study in the Washington Post; or view the full report.