Speed Cameras Could Come to Dangerous Prince George's Road

(Click on the image for Darcy Spencer's News4 report)

• "A new measure could bring speed cameras to a dangerous stretch of road in Prince George's County. There have been a number of deadly crashes along Indian Head Highway in recent years. News4's Darcy Spencer has more on how lawmakers plan to support a new measure that could make the road safer."
• The County Council voted 7-0 to support HB 175 (PG 302-18). A draft of the Council's Position in support of the bill is here.
• HB 175 has been referred to the Maryland House Environment and Transportation Committee.
• Speed camera citations are $40 and no points compared to several hundred dollar citations with multiple points issued by police officers.

Just Don't Get Caught Speeding?

(Click on the image for the November 2008 New York Times article)

• When it comes to speeding, many American motorists don’t worry about safety. They just worry about getting caught.
• “So the faster you think you can go before getting a ticket, the more likely you are to think safety’s not compromised at higher speeds,” said Fred Mannering, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue, in a press release. “For whatever reason, respect for speed limits seems to have deteriorated.”
• For most drivers, a “safe” speed is typically just beyond the point where they believe they are at risk for getting a ticket. That means that motorists who believe they won’t get a ticket until they go 10 m.p.h. above the speed limit are 27 percent more likely to drive up to 20 m.p.h. above the speed limit.
• Notably, getting stopped for speeding didn’t seem to have an effect on whether or not a person speeds again. Both men and women drivers who had been stopped for speeding in the last year were 25 percent more likely to believe that it is safe to drive up to 20 m.p.h. faster than the speed limit, compared to those who hadn’t been ticketed.
• Posted Jan 29 on Nightmare On 210: "They're really cracking down on speeding in that valley and I'm not surprised. I've been going 75 through there and had dozens of cars pass me like I wasn't moving."
  Reply: "Exactly! Seems like you gotta do 80mph or better.."

10 Second Thrill Is Not Worth a Life

Related: Do ‘Fast and Furious’ Movies Cause a Rise in Speeding? (The New York Times)
Spoiler: They do in Montgomery County.

PGPD Working to Stop Criminals Targeting Vehicles That Are Left Unattended While Warming Up

We know it is cold outside. And we know no one likes to step into a cold vehicle. We understand. But during these cold months, criminals are looking for the opportunity to strike when owners choose to warm up their vehicles and to leave them unattended.
So far in 2018, we have had 37 vehicles reported stolen while being warmed up. The weather has been especially cold so far this year. We are watching this issue develop in real-time and want to partner with our community to stop this type of theft from occurring, because there will be more cold days ahead.
This is a 100% preventable crime. The message is “Warm up your car.  Stay in your car.  Keep your car.”
“The Prince George’s County Police Department has made arrests in several of these thefts, but we want to stop them from occurring to begin with. We are urging residents to please stay with their vehicles when they are warming up. Even if you just want to run inside for a short period of time, it’s not worth losing your car.” said Captain Ken Humble of the PGPD Special Investigation Division.

Police Training for the Rest of Us

From Major Keleti: "We are accepting applications for Citizens’ Police Academy, Session #42. The scheduled start date will be Monday, March 12, 2018 and end with a graduation ceremony on Monday, June 11, 2018.  This training opportunity allows our community partners to become familiar with the Prince George’s County Police Department and provides exposure to officer related training such as investigative procedures, conflict management, crime scene investigations, less lethal weapons, judgment enhancement training, and much more.  Each District is allowed to send up to 7 community members. The deadline COB on March 2, 2018."

From Ron: I am a graduate of this program and guarantee it is worth the commitment of your time. Email Weissster@gmail.com for more information.

Prince George's County 2018 State Legislative Priorities

(Click on the image to download the signed letter)

Is Liberty Island in New Jersey or New York?

Portions of the island that are above water are part of New York, while riparian rights to all of the submerged land surrounding the statue belong to New Jersey. (From Wikipedia)
Read more about "exclaves" like Liberty Island here.

Math Shows Why Speeding Is So Dangerous

(Click on the link for the Popular Mechanics article)

A small change in speed can dramatically increase the energy of a collision.
By Avery Thompson, Jan 17, 2018
If you’ve done a lot of highway driving, you’ve likely driven over the speed limit once or twice. It's easy to think that it’s not actually a big deal to drive 10 or 20 mph over the limit, but in reality, the difference in speed can be the difference between life and death.
Here’s a thought experiment to illustrate the point. Imagine two cars speeding down the road, one at 70 mph and one at 100 mph. Both of them spot an obstacle in the road at the same time and both drivers slam on the brakes at the same time. The car traveling at 70 mph comes to a stop just in front of the obstacle. Obviously, the 100 mph car hits the obstacle, but what speed is the car going when that happens?
The wonderful YouTube channel Numberphile shows us how to answer that question:

(Click on the image to see the video)

An object’s kinetic energy is proportional to its speed squared, which means doubling a car’s speed quadruples its energy. A car going 100 mph therefore has more than twice as much kinetic energy as a car going 70. Similarly, in the time it takes the slower car to stop, the faster car won’t have even slowed to 70 mph.
This is why speeding is so dangerous.
Of course, an easier solution might be just to slow down.
At 60 mph it takes the length of a football field to stop on dry pavement!

Do Speed Cameras Get Drivers to Slow Down or Just Generate Revenue?

(Click on the image for  Cori Coffin's Fox5 report)

• The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) has sent drivers 74,964 citations since it implemented a speed camera in a construction zone on Interstate 95/Interstate 495 in Prince George’s County. At $40 per ticket, that comes to a total of $3,073,524 in fines.
• Drivers have to go 12 miles over that to get a ticket or 67 miles per hour.
• “The inherent danger is killing construction workers in work zones,” explained John Townsend with AAA Mid-Atlantic. “The other inherent danger is in the state of Maryland last year, the majority of persons -- six people were killed in work zones -- most of those were drivers and not construction workers.”
• But looking at the big picture, the number of citations is relatively small compared to how much traffic flows through that area daily (about 200,000 vehicles). That comes to 36 million cars in six months. With nearly 75,000 receiving tickets, that is a rate of .21 percent of drivers.
• And according to SHA, once these work zone cameras are implemented, they reduce speeding by 90 percent. Currently, Maryland has work zone cameras in nine other areas across the state. Since the program’s implementation in 2010, it has brought in $115 million in revenue from speedy drivers.

We Live in a "No Drone Zone"

15-mile inner ring around National Airport

https://www.faa.gov/uas/where_to_fly/no_drone_zone/

The National Capital Region is governed by a Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) within a 30-mile radius of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which restricts all flights in the greater DC area.

The SFRA is divided into a 15-mile radius inner ring and a 30-mile radius outer ring.

• Flying an unmanned aircraft within the 15-mile radius inner ring is prohibited without specific FAA authorization.
• Flying a UAS for recreational or non-recreational use between 15 and 30 miles from Washington, D.C. is allowed under these operating conditions:
  • Aircraft must weigh less than 55 lbs. (including any attachments such as a camera)
  • Aircraft must be registered and marked (if it is not operated exclusively under the Special Rule for Model Aircraft, pending NOTAM change)
  • Fly below 400 ft.
  • Fly within visual line-of-sight
  • Fly in clear weather conditions
  • Never fly near other aircraft

The airspace around Washington, D.C. is more restricted than in any other part of the country. Rules put in place after the 9/11 attacks establish "national defense airspace" over the area and limit aircraft operations to those with an FAA and Transportation Security Administration authorization. Violators face stiff fines and criminal penalties.
See Drones keep entering no-fly zones over Washington, raising security concerns

MD 210 Work Zone Speed Cameras Issued 4,473 Citations Nov-Dec 2017

Stay safe and save $40 by observing the 45 mph speed limit.

62% of Montgomery County Drivers Interviewed Favored Automated Speed Enforcement

(Click on the image for the report)

In May 2007, Montgomery County, Maryland, implemented the state's first automated speed enforcement program, with camera use limited to residential streets with speed limits of 35 mph or less and school zones. Changes were made to the program over time. In 2009, a state speed camera law increased the enforcement threshold and restricted school zone enforcement hours. In 2012, the county began using a corridor approach, in which cameras were periodically moved along the length of a roadway segment.

Results:

• 59 percent reduction in the likelihood that a vehicle was traveling more than 10 mph above the speed limit at camera sites.
• When interviewed in fall 2014, 95 percent of drivers were aware of the camera program, 62 percent favored it.
• The overall effect of the camera program . . . was a 39 percent reduction in the likelihood that a crash resulted in an incapacitating or fatal injury.

Conclusions: This study adds to the evidence that speed cameras can reduce speeding, speeding-related crashes, and crashes involving serious injuries or fatalities.

How robo-callers outwitted the government and completely wrecked the Do Not Call list

(Click on the image for Simon van Zuylen-Wood's report in the Washington Post)

Jones sustained his lifestyle by spamming people with robo-calls. He worked with a revolving cast of co-workers under the auspices of about a dozen corporations. At the core of his enterprise was a computer program capable of blasting out irritating, prerecorded phone messages to just about anyone in the country. Jones allegedly paid for exclusive access to the program, which he then rented out to other robo-callers. He and his associates also used it to peddle their own off-brand products, including auto warranties, home security systems and search-engine optimization tools. Anyone curious or lonely enough to listen to one of Jones’s robo-calls, then press “1,” would be directed to a call center, which often meant one or two of Jones’s underlings sitting in a room in Irvine, Calif.

Luca Is Ready to Compost

Contact Environmental Planner Denice E. Curry, 301-883-6110 or decurry@co.pg.md.us, if you would like to join Luca in composting.

Violent Crime Rate, Homicides Down in Prince George's County

(Click on the image for Darcy Spencer's News4 report)

• Chief Hank Stawinski and County Executive Rushern Baker announced Monday that violent crime dropped 6.6 percent in 2017, compared to the previous year. Eighteen fewer people died in homicides, and thefts from cars dropped 4 percent.
• The drop in violent crime represents a more than 50 percent decline in the county over the past seven years, police said. 
• Stawinski attributed the drop to solid police work. "That's the product of men and women going out on the streets on Prince George's County, day in, day out, and working to prevent crime in the first place," he said.
• “I am very proud of the men and women of the Prince George's County Police Department and of the community as we worked together to organize against and prevent crime. Of note is the reduction in homicides and every category of robbery," said Chief Hank Stawinski.

Firefighters fight blaze in sub-zero temperatures after dryer fire in Md. home

(Click on the image for Kendra Mann's WJLA report)

"Around a dozen people were without a home Saturday after a fire broke out from a dryer in the basement of a Gaithersburg townhouse causing a partial collapse, authorities said."
Clean the lint out of your dryer vent before it starts a fire.

Protect Your Pipes from Freezing!

(Click on the image for WSSC Winter-ready)

You Must Register Drones Heavier than 0.55 lbs.

(Click on the image for answers to Frequently Asked Questions)

Failure to register an aircraft may result in regulatory and criminal sanctions. The FAA may assess civil penalties up to $27,500. Criminal penalties include fines of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to three years.