Our Community in Fairfax County, Virginia
Drivers in Fairfax County better think twice before running a red light. Since October 1, drivers at the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Towlston Road may be under 24-hour surveillance, even without a police officer present, thanks to the county's new Photo Red Light Program.
This fixed camera system includes a pole-mounted camera and underground sensors that detect when a vehicle is entering the intersection after the light turns red. When a violation occurs, the camera takes two rear photographs. One photograph of the car is taken as the car enters the intersection and one photo is taken of the car in the middle of the intersection. Conditions in and surrounding the intersection are also photographed.
The date, time, location, and length of the elapsed time into the red light cycle when the violation occurred are superimposed on each photograph. Following a review and validation process, a citation showing photos of the violation is mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle. The penalty is a $50 fine and no points are assessed against the operating record as a result of the violation.
Under a contract with Lockheed Martin IMS, the county eventually plans to have 10 cameras operating at the following locations:
In response to complaints about speeding, the police set up a speed trap on Wayne Road in early November, resulting in several speeding tickets. Anyone driving through a speed trap 10 mph or more above the speed limit is almost guaranteed to be pulled over. It turns out that most of the people who speed on side streets are local residents, not commuters from far outside the neighborhood.
Please be aware that speed traps can show up on any street at any time. Drivers on Westlawn streets can no longer assume that they can drive whatever speed they feel like without risk of getting caught.
The police are willing to set up speed traps day or night, seven days a week. If you have a recurring speeding problem near your house and would like a speed trap set up, just call the non-emergency number at 691-2131. But remember, the police don't want to come out if you cannot pinpoint a time of day and a day of the week when the police will likely catch several speeders going well over the speed limit. This solution is for serious, recurring problems only!
All local police jurisdictions are paying particular attention to behavior at red lights in their campaign to reduce aggressive driving in the region. While you might consider this a hint to avoid a ticket, that isn't why we want you to think about it. The opportunity to create an otherwise avoidable accident is obvious. This brings the risk of personal injury-and the risk of increased insurance rates to the driver. It just doesn't make financial sense, does it?
On the topic of aggressive driving, vehicles entering an intersection without being able to clear it potentially block cross traffic, creating frustration for those whose legitimate turn it is to continue their trip. Many drivers shrug this off, but it fuels others to advancing levels of aggressiveness in their driving. Think it over-we can by our actions help defuse the driving atmosphere.
One last thought: When we leave our vehicles, we all become pedestrians. Think about red lights then, too. Don't dash off the curb on a yellow or red light. First of all, it just isn't fair to drivers who have some expectation that the rules of the road can be relied upon. But, most important, there is no way the relatively small amount of time saved is worth the risk of your safety. Police officers see too many people injured in this kind of situation-we never want to meet you there!
In January 1999, you may have noticed Fairfax County Police in their cars parked on some of our busiest side roads in the morning and early evening hours. They were responding to concerns from many Westlawn residents that the police were not enforcing the speed limit in our neighborhood.
The police spent a half hour or hour at four different locations in Westlawn during peak periods of traffic. In one case, the policeman counted about 200 vehicles in one hour, but only one car was speeding enough to warrant ticketing!
Police Capt. Slyman pointed out at our 2 February General Meeting that people standing near a road usually perceive vehicles to be traveling at higher speeds than they really are. Even she finds that her own guess at a vehicle's speed is often higher than what the radar gun shows.
The police are willing to come out to Westlawn again if we are confident that speeding or stop sign violations are occurring frequently at a particular place at a particular time of day. Just give me a call.