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Sunday, January 19, 2014

Wicomico County Teachers Question Redspeed Camera Accuracy

WBOC is reporting that seventeen teachers at a Wicomico County school have complained that they received tickets from a speed camera located outside the school where they work, but they believe the speeds on the citations are impossible.

"It hit me at 39 miles per hour, right here," noted Jeremy Michalski, pointing to a ticket he received after a speed camera caught him just after pulling out of the school's parking lot onto Morris Street.
He doesn't see how that speed would even be possible.
"At 2:45, there's school dismissal, so there's parents lined up to pick up their kids, there's kids walking all over the street," he noted. "Every time I drive by that car, which we all know it's there, I look down at my speedometer and I'm going 22 miles per hour to 25."
And he is not alone.


"I got a ticket the beginning of last month," explained Michalski's coworker, Laura Becker. "It said I was going 40 miles per hour and I have a mom-mobile, and I just don't think it's possible for me to exit this parking lot and get up to that speed in that short amount of time."The camera is run by the Wicomico County Sheriff's office and their vendor, RedSpeed. Both the Sheriff's office and Redspeed assured the public that the cameras are accurate because the devices are calibrated regularly.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Challenge it, take it to court and make them prove it is properly calibrated.

Anonymous said...

This is the sane vendor as Baltimore that lied and forced Baltimore to end its camera system. It is the SAME company!

Anonymous said...

Take it to court, and do a FOIA request to the County and Redspeed for ALL calibration certificates for the past year. You will receive proof that the cameras are not kept up with. Also, take a tape measure out to the camera site. (The stationary ones), measure the distance from the camera to where your vehicle is in the photo and compare it to the distance printed on the ticket. The Wi Middle cam on Main street is 25% off.

Anonymous said...

The police state is always right so just move along keep quiet and pay the fine.

MD Drivers Alliance said...

10:56.... calibration is not the issue. Errors of this sort are caused by external interference. 99 times out of 100 it may work perfectly, and the 100th time there is a random radar reflection. Sloppy procedures which don't require any verification of the recorded speed allow it to go through. It's perfectly legal in Maryland to use a system which produces errors, thank state lawmakers for that.

Anonymous said...

So, either the machine is wrong, or a group of teachers is lying. Hmm, I think they speed just like the rest of us.

MD Drivers Alliance said...

See the following Baltimore Sun article discussing errors in that city, and why using different technology or calibration will not fix the problems. The solution is human, such systems are not supposed to be "fire and forget"

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-02-17/news/bs-md-speed-camera-radar-20130217_1_barbara-zektick-zero-error-program-cameras

MD Drivers Alliance said...

11:44.... SEVENTEEN teachers. Teachers who, I might add, are going out on a limb by publicly criticizing their employer (the county).

Anonymous said...

11:23, The one at 700 Main street shot me at 80 feet from the camera. Measured distance with tape measure. Distance stamp on photo, 100 ft. That's 25% off.

Anonymous said...

I don't know why these things have not been destroyed, what has happened to our youth of today? They disappoint.

MD Drivers Alliance said...

They do get destroyed all the time. The contractors have to the process of getting them back online before anyone sees it down to a science (most of the time). They even have a special coating they spray on the lenses so when they get spray painted it cleans right off. In Prince George's they even put up video cameras to monitor the cameras because they were getting burned.

Anonymous said...


Both of the teachers mentioned are high quality individuals and trustworthy.

The speed camera at that location is a red Ford Escape parked in plain sight on the side of the road across from the school.

The location of the exit from the parking lot is quite close to where the camera car sits.

Clearly, as experienced elsewhere in town and in other cities, something is wrong with the camera equipment and its maintenance.

Think when folks go to court on these bogus charges they should ask the judge to award them damages for their lost time.

Anonymous said...

These people that have foisted this upon us should be jailed!

Anonymous said...

but it's for the kids so stfu and pay it!

Anonymous said...

My son got a ticket last year in front of JMB. The time was just after 4:00pm. Only problem, he was at JROTC practice at WiHi (confirmed) at the exact time.

Anonymous said...

@11:59....that would be 20% pal...try again.