Speed camera ticketing starts through I-95 work zone in Wilmington

Drivers speeding through Delaware will now face tickets if caught by speed cameras installed in the I-95 work zone through Wilmington earlier this year.

The state’s first speed cameras went online in mid-January in an effort to cut down on the dramatic increase in crashes in the construction zone. In 2021, 421 crashes occurred in the four-mile section of highway where work is underway. That’s a 49% increase from 2019, according to DelDOT.

“One of the evergreen issues that we’ve continued to see is just the high rate of speed through this corridor,” said C.R. McLeod, DelDOT’s director of community relations, when the cameras were first being installed in January. “We’ve continuously seen traffic speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour in this 45-mile per hour speed limit.”

After three months of mailing warnings to speeders — more than 24,000 since January —  DelDOT is now sending out tickets. DelDOT says since the cameras have been in place, there’s been a 10% reduction in speed in the area, plus a 37% decline in crashes compared to the same time period last year.

As tickets start to be mailed, they expect those numbers to continue to improve.

If the camera records a speeding vehicle, the registered owner will be mailed a ticket with a base fine of $20 plus an extra dollar for every mile-per-hour over the limit. A car traveling through the zone at 58 mph would be fined an extra $13 for being 13 mph over the limit. Combined with other fees automatically added on to any traffic ticket in Delaware, the total cost would be $74.50.

The speed cameras are part of a pilot program approved by lawmakers in June. After evaluating the results, the General Assembly could approve expanding the cameras to catch speeders in other work zones or roadways in the state.