Traffic camera nabbing speeders in I-5 work zone
THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. -- Speed through a construction zone without getting pulled over, and you might not think twice about it. That is, unless you get a hefty ticket in the mail.
The state Department of Transportation has installed a traffic safety camera on Interstate 5 in Maytown south of Olympia where road crews are working on a project that stretches 8 miles long. The speed limit in the work zone has been reduced from 70 to 60 to accommodate crews working to wide three lanes.
The automated camera began clocking drivers on Monday, and DOT officials say they saw results right away.
"It appears fairly calm this morning compared to what we've seen in the past. It seems to be working immediately," said Dave Philpott of WSDOT.
The camera works just like those that aim to catch red-light runners and speeders in school zones. The radar catches the car's speed, the strobe light is set off and the camera catches the speeder. And drivers won't know they've been nailed until a $137 ticket arrives in the mail. Drivers caught speeding through a construction zone by a state troopers are fined twice the amount.
One driver, who wished only to be identified as "Peter," is skeptical.
"I think it sounds like something that would happen in China," he said. "The government needs the money."
Last year the state tested the camera for six weeks, during which time 1,500 speeders were cited and fined a total of $22,000. But officials said worker and driver safety, not fines, is the drive behind traffic cameras.
"It's not a money maker," said Michael Downing of American Traffic Solutions, a company that makes and staffs traffic cameras. "That's not why we're here. That's not why they come to our company."
The DOT says it hasn't seen a worker killed in seven years, and says it wants to keep it that way.
The state Department of Transportation has installed a traffic safety camera on Interstate 5 in Maytown south of Olympia where road crews are working on a project that stretches 8 miles long. The speed limit in the work zone has been reduced from 70 to 60 to accommodate crews working to wide three lanes.
The automated camera began clocking drivers on Monday, and DOT officials say they saw results right away.
"It appears fairly calm this morning compared to what we've seen in the past. It seems to be working immediately," said Dave Philpott of WSDOT.
The camera works just like those that aim to catch red-light runners and speeders in school zones. The radar catches the car's speed, the strobe light is set off and the camera catches the speeder. And drivers won't know they've been nailed until a $137 ticket arrives in the mail. Drivers caught speeding through a construction zone by a state troopers are fined twice the amount.
One driver, who wished only to be identified as "Peter," is skeptical.
"I think it sounds like something that would happen in China," he said. "The government needs the money."
Last year the state tested the camera for six weeks, during which time 1,500 speeders were cited and fined a total of $22,000. But officials said worker and driver safety, not fines, is the drive behind traffic cameras.
"It's not a money maker," said Michael Downing of American Traffic Solutions, a company that makes and staffs traffic cameras. "That's not why we're here. That's not why they come to our company."
The DOT says it hasn't seen a worker killed in seven years, and says it wants to keep it that way.