Advocates is urging Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger to sign House Bill (HB) 994 into law. This legislation expands, in northern Virginia, the ability to use speed safety cameras to “safety red zones” on roads with speed limits of 45 miles per hour (mph) or less located in a priority pedestrian corridor or high-risk pedestrian corridor to protect vulnerable road users (VRUs) and others.
Speeding is a major contributor to Virginia traffic fatalities as 35 percent of fatalities in 2023 involved speeding, and Virginia’s proportion of speeding-related fatalities is higher than the national average of 29 percent. In addition, Virginia incurs approximately $6.5 billion in economic harm annually due to motor vehicle crashes, which is equivalent to a “crash tax” of $756 per resident each year according to a 2019 analysis. When updated for inflation alone, in 2026, costs would equate to over $8.3 billion.
Speed safety cameras are verified to deter speeding and its impact and are recommended for adoption by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), among others. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in Montgomery County, MD found that speed safety cameras alone resulted in a 19 percent reduction in the likelihood that a crash caused a fatal or incapacitating injury. A study by Carnegie Mellon University of speed safety cameras in Philadelphia, PA found a 90 percent reduction in speeding and an approximately 50 percent decrease in crashes and injuries relative to the most similar arterials, all arterials and local roads in Philadelphia.
Read the full letter here.
We previously supported HB 994 in a letter to the Senate Committee on Transportation in February.