KENSINGTON, Md. — Police in Montgomery county say speed cameras have been recording some shocking violations since Gov. Larry Hogan's stay-at-home order resulted in a 54% decrease in statewide traffic.
Perhaps the most extreme example was an outbreak of violations being recorded at more than 100 mph in Montgomery County on roadways like Connecticut Avenue through Kensington and River Road in Potomac.
The good news is that investigators linked the 100 mph+ violations to one vehicle, a Subaru, according to Captain David McBain of the Montgomery County police.
The bad news, he said, is that violations between 90 and 99 mph are up 57% and many vehicles are involved.
"We've actually addressed that individual and I think we've handled that, but we still, throughout the county, every now and then see a car go through at better than 100 miles per hour, and that's just unacceptable," McBain said.
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Police said the speed cameras only prove that the Subaru and not its owner was committing the violations, so there's not enough evidence for charges, police said.
But authorities say the owner will receive fines and the car's owner has received a stern talking-to from investigators. Those violations have stopped, McBain said.
Maryland State Police are so concerned with an increase in aggressive driving that going into the upcoming holiday weekend, they are putting a focus on aggressive driving enforcement, according to Lt. John Revel, who's posted in Prince George's County.
Revel says racing is an issue in Prince George's.
"Not only on the capital beltway, but out on Route 4, we have large groups of street races that congregate in the area of Dower House Road in several parking lots and businesses in that area," Revel said. "We generally send troopers to those locations before the crowds even gather to try and deter them from hanging around in that area. We're just trying to get more patrol units out there and at the same time take care of all the problems that we have with high rates of speed and reckless operations on the beltway."
Traffic volume is beginning to rebound in Maryland now that the state is into its first week of Hogan's Phase 1 of reopening.
The latest figures show overall traffic is still more than 42% below its normal average, according to figures from the Maryland Department of Transportation; it was down to 54% below average in late April.
