College Park Begins Issuing Stop-Sign Citations in School Zones March 16

Cameras at five College Park school-zone intersections have been quietly logging stop-sign violations since February 16, and drivers who blow past those signs starting March 16 will no longer receive warnings. They will receive $40 citations in the mail.

The City of College Park announced the Automated Stop Sign Enforcement Program on March 11, framing it as a direct response to both a crossing guard shortage and Prince George's County's grim distinction of leading Maryland with 91 traffic fatalities last year. The program draws its legal authority from City Ordinance 25-O-02, adopted in May 2025, which amended Chapter 184 of the City Code to permit stop-sign camera enforcement in school zones under Maryland Transportation Code Section 27-701.1.

The five camera locations are Edgewood Road and 52nd Place near Hollywood Elementary School, Rhode Island Avenue and Lakeland Road near Paint Branch Elementary School, St. Andrews Place and Davidson Street near Cherokee Lane Elementary School, and two intersections tied to University of Maryland College Park Foundation sites: College Avenue and Yale Avenue, and Calvert Road and Rhode Island Avenue.

Public services director Jatinder Khokhar said the sites were chosen based on proximity to school zones and areas where students and families regularly walk. The data supporting that selection runs deep: a pilot study conducted September 3 through 23, 2024 installed cameras at nine intersections citywide and recorded more than 3,000 violations per day, many during school hours.

Since the cameras went live on February 16, the city has detected 522 violations and issued 207 warnings, according to Ed Daniel, the city's public safety and emergency operations manager. Those warnings end March 16.

The camera system is operated by Obvio, a vendor whose sales executive Craig Price described the enforcement model at a city public safety meeting Monday as financially self-sustaining. "It's a self-perpetuating solution that helps not only change the behavior, make it safe, but also give you more revenue and generate more revenue to address other public safety concerns," Price said. He added that Obvio cameras have generated $1.6 million in revenue across seven Maryland towns, and that violations fully fund the cameras, costing the city nothing to install or maintain.

When a camera flags a potential violation, Obvio's team reviews the footage before forwarding it to local law enforcement, which makes the final call on whether to issue a citation. Price emphasized that all decisions in the process are made by humans.

Drivers who are not stopped by a police officer at the scene will receive a civil citation mailed to the vehicle's registered owner. Failure to pay the fine or contest the citation can result in additional penalties, including a vehicle registration hold.

The College Park program is part of Prince George's County's Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries on county roads by 2040. Several other municipalities in the county have already launched comparable stop-sign camera programs, making College Park the latest jurisdiction to move from pilot data to permanent enforcement.