Annapolis Speed Cameras Will Run 24/7 Starting September 8 With Fines Up to $425

Drivers in Annapolis, Maryland are about to lose a cushion they didn’t know they had. Starting September 8, the city will run automated speed enforcement at six locations around the clock, seven days a week, with fines for the worst offenders reaching $425.

Until now, Annapolis speed cameras only operated in set windows tied to school zones and specific corridors. The switch to full-time enforcement covers all six of the city’s existing camera sites and follows a state law change that gave Maryland cities new authority to run residential speed cameras nonstop.

Where the Cameras Are and What Changes

The expansion is authorized under Maryland Transportation Article Section 21-809, which allows residential automated speed enforcement locations to operate 24 hours a day. That is a meaningful shift from school zone cameras, which state law limits to weekdays between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Annapolis maintains cameras at six fixed sites: 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. All six move to round-the-clock enforcement once the September 8 switch takes effect.

Forest Drive is already live. Citations there began after the city lowered the posted limit on a stretch between Bywater Road and Arundel on the Bay Road from 40 mph to 35 mph, effective July 27. Anne Arundel County’s Department of Public Works flagged the nearly 3-mile corridor for a high crash rate before recommending the reduction.

How the Fines Escalate

Not every driver who edges past the limit gets a ticket. Maryland law only triggers an automated citation once a vehicle is recorded traveling at least 12 mph over the posted speed. Below that threshold, cameras do not issue a violation.

Once a driver crosses the 12 mph line, the penalty scales with how fast they were going. Maryland replaced its old flat $40 camera fee with a graduated schedule effective October 1, 2025. Drivers caught 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 driving 40 mph or more above the posted limit.

There is a limit to the consequences. Automated speed citations in Maryland are civil infractions. They carry no license points and insurers cannot use them to raise premiums, according to the City of Annapolis. Citations are mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner rather than issued in a traffic stop, so a driver never sees a flashing light in the mirror.

Ignoring the mailed notice is its own problem. Drivers who do not pay or contest a citation within 30 days face late fees and a hold on their vehicle registration through the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, which blocks tag renewal until the balance is settled.

A Statewide Pattern, With Local Pushback

Annapolis is not an outlier. Maryland issued more than 1.6 million speed camera tickets statewide last fiscal year, generating roughly $62 million in revenue, with Montgomery and Prince George’s counties accounting for the largest share. State law requires that revenue from camera fines fund public safety programs rather than flow into a city’s general budget.

The technology has not been free of controversy. Baltimore City suspended part of its camera network last year after a council-ordered audit found accuracy problems, prompting one councilman to say publicly that “people knew that these cameras were wrong and they did nothing but continue to collect money from citizens.” NPR reported in August that as speed cameras spread to more states, driver complaints about fairness and accuracy have grown alongside them.

Annapolis contracts with RedSpeed USA to operate, maintain and process citations for both its speed cameras and a separate red-light camera at the Route 665 and Chinquapin Round Road intersection. The city’s program runs independently of Anne Arundel County’s own portable speed camera network, though both apply the same 12 mph threshold under state law.

Why Cities Are Moving to Full-Time Camera Enforcement

Annapolis is part of a broader shift playing out in cities across several states. NPR’s August reporting found that as more jurisdictions install and expand automated enforcement, complaints about fairness and accuracy have grown right alongside the technology. Supporters point to crash reduction data on corridors where cameras have operated for years, arguing that consistent enforcement changes driver behavior in ways occasional police patrols cannot match. Critics counter that camera revenue creates a financial incentive for cities to expand enforcement zones beyond genuine safety concerns, a tension that shows up in nearly every city debating whether to add cameras or extend their hours.

Annapolis officials have described the 24/7 switch around Forest Drive’s documented crash history and the broader goal of reducing speeding citywide, rather than around revenue targets. Maryland’s requirement that camera fine revenue fund public safety programs, rather than flow into general city coffers, is one structural check meant to keep enforcement decisions separate from budget pressure. Critics of the system still argue that distinction does little to change how a $425 fine feels to the driver who gets one, and the debate over where enforcement ends and revenue collection begins is unlikely to settle before the September 8 switch takes effect.

What Annapolis Drivers Should Do Now

Anyone who regularly drives through Annapolis, including commuters passing through on Forest Drive or Route 665, should treat the September 8 date as a hard deadline. A habit of rolling a few miles over the limit late at night, when no camera used to be watching, will now generate a ticket at 2 a.m. as easily as at 2 p.m.

Drivers new to a lowered limit, such as the Forest Drive stretch, get a 15-day warning period the first time a camera activates or a speed limit changes. In that window, speeding triggers an educational notice by mail instead of a fine, paired with variable message signs on the road. That grace period does not apply once full enforcement is underway.

How Annapolis Compares to Other Maryland Cities

Annapolis is a small piece of a much larger enforcement network. Anne Arundel County runs its own countywide portable speed camera program that operates independently of the city’s fixed sites, using the same 12 mph threshold but a separate set of locations that rotate periodically. Baltimore County, Baltimore City and Montgomery County all run parallel camera systems with their own rules for hours of operation and fine schedules.

That patchwork means a driver who commutes across county lines can face different camera rules depending on which jurisdiction they are passing through at any given moment. A speed that draws no citation from one county’s school zone camera in the evening could trigger a ticket in Annapolis once the city’s round-the-clock enforcement begins. Drivers who regularly cross between Anne Arundel County, Annapolis city limits and neighboring jurisdictions should treat each zone’s posted limit as the only reliable guide, rather than assuming camera hours are uniform statewide.

Practical steps for Annapolis drivers include checking a vehicle’s registered address is current so citations arrive without delay, watching for the variable message signs the city posts ahead of new limits, and paying or formally contesting any citation within the 30-day window to avoid a registration hold. Drivers who believe a citation was issued in error can request a review through the City of Annapolis speed camera program rather than ignoring the notice.

Parents driving carpool routes near the Forest Drive corridor or the Chinquapin Round Road sites should build extra buffer time into school-year schedules. A rushed drop-off is exactly the kind of trip where a driver is most likely to edge over a limit without noticing. The same caution applies to anyone using ride-hailing apps through Annapolis. A driver working for Uber or Lyft is just as exposed to a mailed citation as anyone else on the road, and a pattern of camera tickets can affect a driver’s standing with those platforms even though Maryland law shields the citation itself from insurance rate increases.

Sources:

• Hoodline: Annapolis Speed Cameras Go 24/7 in September, Drivers Face $425 Fines
• Eye On Annapolis: Slow Down Annapolis
• Anne Arundel County: Automated Traffic Enforcement Speed Program
• NPR: As Speed Cameras Spread to More States, So Does the Backlash From Drivers