Minnesota Is Looking Into Speed Safety Cameras: Here's What That Means

TWIN CITIES, MN — The Minnesota Department of Transportation is exploring the use of speed safety cameras as a tool to reduce speeding in work zone areas.

Speed safety cameras — otherwise known as automated speed enforcement and photo-radar speed enforcement — detect when cars go above the set limit using photographic or video evidence.

The technology can be deployed through:

• "Fixed units," or one stationary camera looking at one location
• "Point-to-Point" units, where multiple cameras are used to capture average speed over a certain distance
• "Mobile units," a portable camera mounted in a car or trailer

The cameras can be effective when the speed limit is 45 MPH or higher, officials said.

Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia use the technology. States that use speed safety cameras report a reduction in speeding violations, according to MnDOT.

Minnesota transit officials are looking for ways to reduce speeding in work zones.

A MnDOT report on work zones published in February found that crashes in work zones are increasing statewide, and "simply lowering the posted speeds will not change driver behavior, because drivers will reduce speeds only if they perceive a need to do so."

Between 2018 and 2020, Minnesota recorded 7,403 work zone crashes. Of those, 122 of the crashes caused a death or a serious injury to either a worker, driver, or someone else

"When workers are placed next to traffic, the risk of injury or death increases," the report states. "Changes to the roadway environment, driver behavior, and high levels of traffic volumes and/or speeds each contribute to the dangers faced by road workers."

The report cites a November 2020 study on Interstate 94 in Maple Grove which found that only 36 percent of the 333,024 drivers on the road followed the 60 mph work zone speed limit during a one-week period.

Minnesota has no laws on the books related to speed safety cameras. The Minnesota Legislature would have to pass a law to allow authorities to use the technology.

Lawmakers would have to decide if the driver of the car, or the car owner, would be penalized if speeding is detected using the cameras.