Hit the gas north of the Chevy Chase Circle, and you may get a picture to remember your drive. Chevy Chase Village has had traffic cameras installed at some intersections.

Driver Denyse Spence said, "A coworker who got a ticket sent an email to everyone saying watch the cameras." That's because four cameras are watching them.


Anything 11 miles over the posted 30 mile-an-hour speed limit warrants a camera-captured citation. An ABC 7 camera crew saw the flash ten times in twenty minutes. Every ticket generated means nearly 24 dollars for Chevy Chase Village.

Driver George Schlinn disputes the necessity for the cameras. "I think they're all out to make money," he told ABC 7 reporters. "Why don't they put police officers out to catch people and write tickets?"

Chevy Chase Village Police Chief Roy Gordon would disagree. He argued, "We're just trying to get people to slow down and change their driving behavior." Gordon said that he has seen collisions along the narrow and busy drop from 12 to four a month since the cameras were installed last October.

He adds, "The financial impact... it doesn't impact the municipality, the community, the tax base, because this is a violator-funded program."

Money from these tickets, potentially millions of dollars, goes into a specially-designated fund and is not available to pay for general budget items. But it can fund pedestrian and traffic projects, like putting sidewalks in on Brookville Road.

Email To A Friend