Speedy drivers will have to take more caution on area roads with the addition of mobile speed cameras that will alternate between 25 new Montgomery County locations. 

The police department put up the cameras Aug. 30 as part of the state’s Safe Speed program.  The cameras sit on six mobile vans that allow them to move between multiple locations from day to day.

Automated cameras have enforced speed limits on area roads since March 2007, and the county has used portable technology since December 2009.

“The cameras are currently deployed in residential and school areas to answer community concerns that drivers have been observed slowing down in the enforcement locations and then speeding up again,” the county police department said in a Feb. 4 press release.

The new cameras have sparked controversy with drivers in the area.

“I think there are a lot of speed cameras in places that have unrealistically slow speed limits,” said parent Emily Bartlett.

The county police department said the Safe Speed program was a contributing factor in a 32 percent reduction in fatal car collisions in the county between 2008 and 2009.

The police department used community requests and accident statistics in deciding where to place the new cameras.

All camera locations will have signs marking the area as an “automated speed enforcement area,” and all speed camera locations can be found online.

Drivers who pass the cameras at least 12 miles per hour above the speed limit will receive a $40 citation.