Dr. Gridlock reports DC is adding some new speed camera locations.
The most notable ones are on both sides of I-395 near Exit 4 (eastbound, that's the exit marked "Maine Avenue/SW Waterfront/Nationals Park"; westbound, it's where the road splits with Maine Avenue and 12th Street traffic exiting to the right). The speed limit there is 40 mph and if you try to drive that slowly you put yourself in serious danger. It's unclear whether that's going to be a fixed or mobile camera location.
That location is on the commuting route to the U.S. Capitol of many congresscritters and their staffers who live in Virginia. It'll be interesting to see what kind of blowback comes from them, once they start getting tickets in the mail.
Eastbound, that location for a time had a temporary work zone speed limit of 45mph, higher than the regular limit of 40mph. I take that as yet more evidence that the 40mph limit is underposted, as D.C. is wont to do.
I wonder if the congressmen might claim immunity from ticketing under Article I, Section 6, clause 1:
Excellent question. And it is my understanding that
relatively few Members live in the Maryland suburbs of D.C. (
perhaps because there are no freeway connections from D.C. to most of Maryland,
just possibly?), so they will generally
not encounter the photo radar enforcement along U.S. 50 (N.Y. Ave., N.E.) between Bladensburg Road and South Dakota Avenue, nor along I-295 at Blue Plains (Laboratory Road, S.W.), nor along D.C. 295 just south of Eastern Avenue, N.E.
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
I seem to recall a news report some years back about Frank Wolf being issued a speeding ticket in Fairfax County that the police department then revoked because of this provision since Wolf was on his way to Capitol Hill for a regular session of Congress, but Wolf then insisted they issue the ticket because he said that's not the sort of thing for which this provision was intended. I might be mistaken about the facts; it may have been a car crash where he was at fault. Either way, if the story is true I think his point is valid. A constitutional provision of this sort should not be interpreted as giving the congressmen the right to break every law they choose without fear of penalty. We already run into that problem enough with the embassies and their people with Diplomat plates.
I recall a crash involving the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) on U.S. 50 (Lee-Jackson Highway) some years ago, in, I believe, Fairfax County, Va. If I recall correctly, he was headed west on U.S. 50 in the direction of his home state, but it was on a day when the Senate was not in session (I believe it may have been on Friday, 07-May-1999, according to
this link (Highbeam.com pay site). The site says Byrd was issued a summons for "following too closely," which was later voided.