The Howard County Council voted unanimously Monday to increase the number of speed cameras in the county.

The bill removes the eight-speed camera limit under the county code.

Liz Walsh, the Howard County Council chair and proposer of the bill, said there have been dangerous speeds recorded around schools.

Speeding in school zones

When police set up speed cameras along the stretch of Rogers Avenue by Hollifield Station Elementary in Ellicott City, speedsters often get caught.

"We can see from the annual budget reports, we get that tickets are flying out of those machines like crazy," Walsh said.

Previously, under the Howard County Code, the Howard County Police Department could only "use up to eight speed monitoring systems" in school . 

Due to that, police would move the speed cameras around to different school zones from time to time to ensure as much coverage as possible.

Incessant speeding near schools

The school zone for Hollifield Station Elementary is usually a go-to spot for a speed camera because of the incessant speeding there.

"We gotta change behavior, we gotta change road design, or both," Walsh said. "We gotta do something to make sure those babies getting to their school rooms are kept safe in that passage."

Some cases of speeding caught in school zones in the last school year, according to data given to Walsh's office, include a driver going 85 mph by Hollifield Station Elementary.

Another driver was caught going 83 mph near Centennial High School, and a driver was caught going 110 mph by St. Louis School in Clarksville.

All of these speeds were recorded when students were in school.

Reactions to speeding

Andre C., who lives by St. Louis School, said he wasn't surprised when WJZ told him how fast drivers have been going, and how speeding and other reckless habits have become the norm.

"I've had people when I'm driving 45 [mph]...come up and then go around me because they didn't feel like I was going fast enough," he said. "[That was in] a 40 mph zone."

Speed camera effectiveness

Police data shows the cameras have helped deter some drivers. In one year at Rogers Avenue, police saw a decrease of more than 38% in average daily citations.

"It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned," Walsh said.

In a statement to WJZ, Howard County Police said it "values any traffic safety initiatives that protect drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists."