Annapolis Speed Cameras Go 24/7 Starting September 8, With Fines Up to $425

Drivers who have learned to time their speeding around Annapolis, Maryland’s camera schedule are about to lose that option. Starting September 8, the city will run automated speed enforcement at six locations around the clock, seven days a week, with fines for the fastest drivers reaching $425 a ticket.

The switch to 24/7 enforcement is authorized under Maryland Transportation Article Section 21-809, which permits residential automated speed enforcement to run at all hours, unlike school zone speed cameras, which are limited to weekdays between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Annapolis currently limits its six speed camera sites to set hours; after September 8, all six run continuously.

Where the Cameras Sit

The six locations are Route 665 at Chinquapin Round Road, 919 Cedar Park Road westbound, 111 Chinquapin Round Road southbound, 190 Hilltop Lane southeast, and two positions on Forest Drive at 1399 Forest Drive northwest and southeast. Forest Drive enforcement actually starts sooner than the citywide switch: cameras there began issuing citations this week, after the city ran a 15-day warning period tied to a fresh speed limit change on that corridor.

That speed limit change followed a documented safety problem. Effective July 27, the limit on Forest Drive between Bywater Road and Arundel on the Bay Road dropped from 40 mph to 35 mph after an Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works safety study flagged the nearly three-mile stretch for a high crash rate. The city paired the lower limit with variable message signs and a 15-day educational window before switching from warnings to real fines, the same grace period Annapolis applies whenever it activates a new camera or lowers a posted limit.

What Actually Triggers a Fine

Not every mile over the limit results in a ticket. Under state law, automated speed cameras can only issue a citation once a vehicle is recorded traveling at least 12 mph over the posted speed limit. Below that threshold, the camera does not generate a violation at all.

Once a vehicle crosses the 12 mph line, the penalty scales with how fast the driver was going. Maryland replaced its old flat $40 speed camera fee with a graduated schedule effective October 1, 2025. Drivers going 12 to 15 mph over the limit still pay $40, but the fine climbs to $70, then $120, then $230, and tops out at $425 for anyone caught doing 40 mph or more above the posted limit.

Why the Penalty Is Lighter Than It Looks

There is a meaningful upside for drivers who do get caught. Automated speed camera citations in Maryland are civil infractions, not moving violations. They carry no demerit points on a driver’s license and insurance companies cannot use them to raise premiums, according to the City of Annapolis. Citations arrive by mail addressed to the vehicle’s registered owner rather than being issued roadside at a traffic stop, so there is no license suspension risk tied to accumulating camera tickets the way there is with officer-issued speeding tickets in many states.

Ignoring a citation is a different story. Drivers who do not pay or formally contest a ticket within 30 days face late fees and a registration hold placed by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, which blocks license plate renewal until the fine is resolved. A relatively small $40 or $70 ticket left unpaid can turn into a bigger problem at renewal time than the original fine.

Who Actually Runs the Program

Annapolis contracts with RedSpeed USA to operate, maintain, and process citations for its speed and red-light camera network, which also includes a red-light camera at Route 665 and Chinquapin Round Road. The city’s program runs independently of Anne Arundel County’s separate, county-wide portable speed camera enforcement, and both apply the same 12 mph statutory threshold.

What Drivers Should Do Before September 8

The most direct step is obvious: check the posted limit on Forest Drive, Cedar Park Road, Chinquapin Round Road, and Hilltop Lane before driving those corridors. All six sites go live around the clock within days. Drivers who believe a citation was issued in error can contest it through the process listed on the ticket itself, though Maryland’s courts generally treat camera timestamp and speed data as strong evidence absent a documented equipment malfunction.

For drivers outside Annapolis, the broader trend is worth watching. Automated enforcement that runs continuously, rather than in set daytime windows, is spreading to more Maryland jurisdictions as cities look to close the gap between when speeding actually happens and when cameras have historically been switched on.

Part of a Wider East Coast Push

Annapolis is not acting in isolation. Mount Vernon, New York activated its first school-zone speed cameras this week, and Stamford, Connecticut rolled out a new school-zone program earlier this month, both citing the same underlying data point Annapolis leaned on: cameras measurably reduce how fast vehicles travel past the sites where they’re installed. What sets Annapolis apart is the scope. Most cities limit automated enforcement to school zones within school hours. Running all six sites around the clock puts Annapolis ahead of the curve on how aggressively a mid-size city is willing to use camera enforcement outside a narrow safety justification tied to children walking to class.

The graduated fine schedule Maryland adopted in October 2025 also reflects a broader shift away from flat speed camera penalties. States including New York and Illinois have moved toward tiered fine structures over the past two years, arguing that a driver going 45 in a 25 should face a meaningfully different penalty than one going 27 in a 25. Critics of the graduated model counter that it gives municipalities a financial incentive to design camera placement around catching the highest-speed violations rather than the most dangerous locations, as the top-tier fines generate far more revenue per citation.

Local reaction in Annapolis has been mixed but muted compared to camera rollouts in some other cities. Resident feedback collected by Eye On Annapolis around the Forest Drive speed limit reduction skewed toward support, given the documented crash history on that corridor, though several commenters flagged concern that 24/7 enforcement at Cedar Park Road and Chinquapin Round Road, both mixed residential and commercial corridors, would catch far more routine commuters than the intended high-speed offenders the program targets.

Sources:

• Hoodline: Annapolis Speed Cameras Go 24/7 in September, Drivers Face $425 Fines
• Eye On Annapolis: Slow Down Annapolis
• City of Annapolis: Speed and Red Light Cameras