With speeding a factor in more than half of all traffic fatalities in the District of Columbia, the Metropolitan Police Department is launching a new campaign, using state-of-the-art technology, to reduce speeding and prevent injuries and deaths on District streets and highways. Chief of Police Charles H. Ramsey joins city and community leaders in unveiling the citywide speeding reduction strategy, which includes the region’s first photo radar enforcement system.

WHEN:	Monday, July 2, 2001 10:30 am
WHERE:	Corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Arizona Avenue, NW (two blocks from location where 81-year-old Sylvia Zimmerman was killed by a hit-and-run driver last December )
WHO:	Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey Deputy Mayor Margret Kellems Ward 3 Councilmember Kathy Patterson Penny Pagano, Palisades Citizens Organization Willard Poteat, Hillcrest Community Civic Association Judith Stone, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Richard Retting, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Other government, community and traffic safety experts
WHAT:	News conference to announce new speeding reduction strategy; demonstration of photo radar and other speeding enforcement technology will follow immediately. (Note: photo radar units will be deployed throughout the day at various locations for filming by the news media.)

“Speeding, red-light running and other forms of aggressive driving continue to be among the top public-safety priorities of our residents and our Police Department,” Ramsey said. “Nearly two years ago, we launched the first phase of our automated traffic enforcement program, with the installation of red-light cameras. These devices have contributed to a nearly 60 percent reduction in red-light running violations at the 39 intersections equipped with cameras. We expect equally positive results in reducing speeding and speeding-related crashes through the use of photo radar, laser guns and other enforcement efforts,” the Chief added.

Statistics show that speeding was a factor in 56 percent of the District’s traffic fatalities in the year 2000. The national average, by contrast, is about 30 percent.

The speeding reduction program will target residential streets, major arteries and highways, with a particular emphasis on work zones, school zones, parks and other areas where children and senior citizens are present, and locations of recent traffic fatalities.

Sylvia Zimmerman, an 81-year-old resident of the 5200 block of Macomb Street, NW, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on December 6, 2000, as she was attempting to cross MacArthur Boulevard. Just over two weeks later, on December 22, Annmarie Stevenson, of Longfellow Street, NE, was also killed by a hit-and-run driver at the corner of North Capitol and Longfellow Streets, NW. Both cases remain unsolved. The two locations will be targeted as part of the MPD’s stepped-up speeding enforcement efforts.

Beginning Monday, police will issue warning citations from the photo radar system as part of a month-long campaign to educate the motoring public about the dangers of speeding and the planned use of photo radar. Police plan to issue actual photo-enforced Notices of Infraction beginning in early August.