Soon, residents frustrated by reckless driving were demanding more of them; there were nearly 1,200 requests for traffic camera installations last year, according to the District Department of Transportation. To date, the city has installed 477, including 140 since November.

And they seem to be working. On two blocks of Wheeler Road SE, for example, citations were down more than 95 percent from February 2022 — the first month cameras were fully activated there — to November 2023, the last month for which figures were available, according to data from the D.C. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Operations and Infrastructure. Drivers amassed 7,556 citations on the 4000 block of Wheeler Road SE in February 2022 and 316 citations in November 2023, the data shows.

Other roads that have cameras, and that previously had fatal accidents, saw 15 to 61 percent fewer citations in July 2023 than in July 2022, the data shows.

And about 70 percent of drivers who received a citation have not gotten a second one, according to city data, which officials say suggests that drivers who get caught don’t commit traffic offenses again, or at least not in places with cameras.

But traffic fatalities haven’t gone down to zero. Far from it: They’ve increased every year since 2015 and reached a 16-year zenith last year with 52 deaths, according to city data. Serious injuries related to traffic crashes increased nearly 15 percent from 2015 to 2022.

And many drivers find the cameras a nuisance or a real financial hardship. The fines, which start at $100 and can reach $500 for high speeds, have become the city’s primary method of traffic enforcement.

A Washington Post analysis shows that about half of the 25 deadliest intersections in D.C. now have cameras installed, and another third of those intersections have cameras within two blocks. DDOT plans to install more speed cameras in intersections with high rates of traffic-related injuries, said Sharon Kershbaum, the agency’s acting director.

The 477 cameras installed comprise 213 speeding cameras, 140 bus lane cameras, 56 red light cameras, 33 stop sign cameras, 25 school bus cameras and 10 truck restriction cameras, according to city data.

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer expects the cameras to bring in more than $1 billion in revenue over the next four fiscal years, though revenue is expected to plateau and then decline as people adjust their driving behaviors. “We will love to see lower revenue from [camera] tickets, because that would mean more drivers are obeying traffic laws and our streets are getting safer,” said Charlie Willson, the Vision Zero director.

But traffic collisions and reckless driving still plague the city — particularly low-income neighborhoods — and have left residents on edge. When Ameen Beale, 41, drives across the 11th Street Bridge on his way home to Congress Heights, he has to “psychologically prepare to drive through Ward 8,” he said. Since 2017, he has been involved in three traffic collisions in Southeast Washington because of reckless drivers, he said, and his car insurance premiums have doubled.

“Everybody pays for bad driving,” Beale said. He thinks cameras can help.

Still, there continue to be repeat offenders, particularly from outside the District. A report released this month by the Office of the D.C. Auditor showed that most of the drivers who violated D.C. traffic safety laws came from Maryland or Virginia. The office said the mayor had yet to negotiate with those states’ leaders to establish a legal framework for the city to enforce tickets given to their residents. Bowser’s office declined to comment for this article.

“It’s clear [Vision Zero] is not going to be met this year,” said Lori Metcalf, a co-author of the report.

While the city has ramped up camera enforcement, it has reduced traffic enforcement by police, the report found, partly because of a 13 percent decrease in police force staff from 2018 to 2023.

As the summer months arrive, when data shows that speeding usually peaks, Beale is on edge. “People are out,” he said. “They’re partying. They’re out later. And with that comes just a certain brand of traffic violence, mainly due to folks just being irresponsible drivers.”

The increased use of cameras comes as the D.C. Council and government agencies also crack down on driving infractions in other ways. The council recently passed a bill to empower the D.C. attorney general to sue drivers with multiple violations, regardless of where they live, which could help the city collect the hundreds of millions of dollars that out-of-state drivers owe. The bill will also allow the city to install speed-restricting devices on the cars of drivers who commit serious violations.

The Department of Public Works also recently began a pilot program that since April has towed nearly 70 cars carrying a total of more than $600,000 in unpaid tickets and booted 777 vehicles with a total of $1.5 million in fines.

Beale, who frequently bikes in D.C., said that while he feels safer with the cameras and new legislation, he would like to see more protected bike lanes on the streets to safeguard cyclists who find themselves frequently dodging cars.

“At some point,” he said, “I don’t want to put my life in my hands of other people.”