D.C. Speed Cameras: $29.5 Million In Tickets Issued Since October

WASHINGTON -- The top 10 speed cameras in the District have issued $29.5 million in tickets since the current fiscal year began seven months ago, according to The Washington Post.

A speed camera at K Street under Washington Circle is the most profitable in the city, issuing 61,061 tickets totaling $8.1 million since October.

Southbound D.C. 295 (33,495 tickets, $4.6 million) and the 600 block of New York Avenue NE (31,949 tickets, $4.7 million) are the second and third most profitable speed camera locations.

WTOP reports D.C. is on track to issue a record high number of speed camera tickets this year; last fiscal year, speed cameras issued more than 700,000 tickets, resulting in a $78.8 million windfall for the city.

In 2011, nearly 10,000 people were killed in speed-related crashes, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. But does a record number of speeding tickets equal a safer city for drivers?

John Townsend II, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic, told WTOP:

When you consider that many speed cameras are in locations where the speed limit are 25 or 30 mph, it's not hard to believe some people may go over the limit because drivers go at what engineers call the 85 percentile speed. So it's not hard to generate tickets when the limits are set artificially low.

The Metropolitan Police Department lists all speed camera locations in Washington, D.C. on its website.

Where are Washington's other top speed cameras? According to the Post:

Rounding out the top speed cameras: another on D.C. 295, this one on the northbound side (19,685 tickets, $3.1 million); 2200 block of South Dakota Avenue (17,685 tickets, $1.7 million); 3500 Massachusetts Avenue (13,618 tickets, $1.5 million); two more cameras on D.C. 295, one southbound (13,172 tickets, $1.5 million) and one northbound (12,350 tickets, $2.4 million); and 1900 Branch Avenue (10,819 tickets, $1.8 million).