Baltimore Car Crashes Increased During Days of Traffic Cameras

Went up five percent

Baltimore experienced a nearly 5 percent increase in traffic accidents from 2009 to 2012 — a four-year span during which the city rolled out and ramped up its network of now-idle speed cameras, according to state police.

Accidents rose from 19,792 in 2009 to 20,718 in 2012, the city's highest total in nine years. Over those four years the city issued more than 1.5 million of the $40 tickets, with a stated purpose of improving safety by getting drivers to slow down in areas around schools.

City transportation spokeswoman Adrienne Barnes played down the increase. She noted that crashes fell from 2009 to 2010 (by almost 4 percent), before rising. Speed camera enforcement began in November 2009, making 2010 the first full year with cameras. Barnes also said yearly city figures have not fluctuated much over the past 10 years.