Automated Speed Enforcement Program
The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (SHA) promotes a three-pronged approach to managing speed-related safety problems: engineering, education and enforcement.
Automated speed enforcement (ASE) systems manage speed and reduce speed-related crashes. In alignment with MDOT’s
Serious About Safety campaign and the Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries on Maryland’s roadways, SHA seeks to change behavior and urge drivers to do what they already should be doing: drive responsibly, stay alert and obey the speed limit.
In accordance with state law, SHA operates ASE in three contexts:
- On segments of state highways that are identified as safety corridors of high risk to vulnerable road users in the Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment;
- In state highway work zones with a posted speed limit of 45 mph or greater; and
- On segments of I-695 and I-83 in Baltimore County that are identified as high risk for motor vehicle crashes resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
ASE for Vulnerable Road Users (Safety Corridors)
In April 2026, the Maryland General Assembly passed the
Vulnerable Road User Protection Act of 2026 (SB 487) into law. The law is aimed at giving Maryland another tool to help protect the most vulnerable users on our roadways.
Taking effect October 1, 2026, the law allows SHA to place and use automated speed monitoring systems – i.e. speed cameras – on highways identified as safety corridors. The law also allows local governments to place and use speed cameras on these corridors, subject to applicable local law and permitting requirements. The safety corridors governed by the law have been identified through SHA’s Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment, a data-driven study that analyzes segments of roadways of highest risk to vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, bicyclists and those using scooters and other devices.
SHA is in the procurement phase for this program and expects cameras to be operational beginning in Fall 2027. As is the case for other speed cameras in Maryland, violations will only be recorded if a motorist exceeds the posted speed limit by at least 12 miles per hour. The fine amounts set in state law are tiered based upon the speed at which a vehicle is traveling above the posted speed limit and range from $40 (12-15 mph over the speed limit) to $425 (40 mph or more over the speed limit). Fines collected from violations will be distributed to the state’s Transportation Trust Fund and used exclusively for highway safety and SHA system preservation initiatives. Warning notices will be issued in lieu of citations for the first 30 days that cameras are in operation.
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ASE in Work Zones
SHA, in coordination with the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) and the Maryland State Police (MSP), administers the Maryland SafeZones program, which operates automated speed enforcement in highway work zones with a posted speed limit of 45 mph or greater. Additional information about the Maryland SafeZones program can be found on the SafeZones program website below.
Chapter 500, Acts of the 2009 Maryland General Assembly, authorized automated speed enforcement in highway work zones (§ 21-810, Transportation Art., Md. Code Ann.). The law was later amended by the Maryland Road Worker Protection Act of 2024, which authorized the use of unmanned ASE systems, created a tiered fine structure based upon the speed at which a vehicle exceeds the posted speed limit, and doubles a fine when workers are present in a work zone at the time of a violation. These reforms were recommendations from the Work Zone Safety Work Group (WZSWG), comprised of MDOT officials, legislators, industry partners, law enforcement officers, and roadway workers, which was formed in response to a March 2023 crash on I-695 in which six SHA contractors were killed (the deadliest work zone crash in Maryland’s history).
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ASE on I-695 and I-83 in Baltimore County
In the 2025 Legislative Session, the Maryland General Assembly passed SB 338 (Baltimore County - Speed Monitoring Systems - Interstate 695 and Interstate 83), which authorized SHA to place and use up to four speed monitoring systems in each direction on Interstate 695 and up to three in each direction on Interstate 83 in Baltimore County.
Speed cameras will be placed at locations SHA identifies as being at high risk for motor vehicle crashes that result in death or serious bodily injury. SHA is in the procurement phase for this program and expects cameras to be operational beginning in Fall 2027. The state law governing the program is scheduled to sunset on June 30, 2030. Fines collected from violations are capped at $40 and will be used to assist in covering the cost of roadway and safety improvements on I-695 and I-83 in Baltimore County. Warning notices will be issued in lieu of citations for the first 30 days that cameras are in operation.
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School Zones
Counties and municipalities operate their own school zone speed enforcement programs. SHA involvement in the local school zone programs is limited to the establishment of designated “school zones” along state highways and review of utility permit applications for placing ASE equipment on them to ensure the safety of pedestrians and drivers.
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