[Scan-DC] Enclosure Devices Installed near Roads are Not Speed Cameras

[Alan Henney]

DEPARTMENT OF POLICE
MEDIA SERVICES DIVISION
2350 RESEARCH BOULEVARD    ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND   20850-3294

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          FOR MORE INFORMATION:
November 2, 2010 Media Services Division


Enclosure Devices Installed near Roads are Not Speed Cameras

 In response to questions received by the department, Montgomery County Police want to alert our drivers that white fiberglass enclosures recently noticed on some roadways within Montgomery County and in other jurisdictions are not speed cameras.  These devices have been seen primarily on state roads in Montgomery County and in other jurisdictions.

 They are manufactured by a company named Hot-Box and serve as "engineered enclosures" for air vents for underground equipment.  The manufacturer says the boxes are most commonly used for backflow prevention, which is used to protect the quality of drinking water.  There are no cameras inside the enclosures.  Alert drivers have been noticing these enclosures and rumors have been widely circulated on the internet that they are speed cameras.

 Montgomery County does use three different types of Safe Speed cameras:  fixed poles, portable, and cameras mounted in mobile vans with "Safe Speed" signage on the vans. The portable cameras are metal and taller than the white fiberglass enclosures. The locations of speed cameras are listed on the Safe Speed webpage on the Montgomery County Police website.  Cameras are only used on residential streets with a speed limit of 35 miles an hour or less, in school zones year round but only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the state of Maryland is authorized to use speed cameras in work zones and school zones throughout the state.

 Montgomery County is currently using 6 mobile van cameras, 6 portable cameras, and 62 fixed pole cameras. 

***Photographs of the fiberglass enclosures are being e-mailed with this release.***

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