At the Tallahassee City Commission retreat on Wednesday, Tallahassee Police Department Chief Lawrence Revell told officials that his department was looking at installing school zone speed detection devices.
A new Florida law gives cities and counties the ability to set up cameras to ticket and fine speeders in school zones. The law passed in 2023 and authorizes the use of the cameras to ticket drivers who go more than 10 miles an hour over the limit when the lights are flashing and 30 minutes before and after.
A number of local governments in Florida, including Miami-Dade and Hillsborough County (Tampa), have already passed ordinances to implement the program.
In Hillsborough County, cameras will placed in 29 locations based on input from the school district. Drivers caught going more than 10 mph over the posted school zone speed limit will receive a $100 fine.
Chief Revell noted that TPD is researching potential vendors to help implement the project.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
City Officials Discuss School Zone Speed Detection Cameras added by Steve Stewart on
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The purpose of law enforcement is to “Serve and Protect”, not “Observe and Collect”. These cameras are not a practical deterrent, they are simply revenue generators.
If you truly care about the safety of school children, then increase LEOs presence along bus routes and in school zones. Those who ignore the laws and go around a stopped school bus when its safety lights flashing, or those who ignore the school zone speed limits should immediately be pulled over, arrested, charged with Reckless Endangerment, and have their DL suspended for no less than one year.
Sending them a bill in the mail for a violation they’ve likely already forgotten will do nothing to save a child’s life. Again… “Serve and Protect”, not “Observe and Collect”.
To the previous commenter about texting in the school zone while walking, are you kidding me? They’re not going to kill anybody you speeding through his school zone. Most definitely will not comparable
The cameras might be very effective if, in fact, those recorded for speeding in a school zone are fined for the violation and all speeders are treated equally and there isn’t a class of violator protected by affiliation in a non-profit special interest group.
If an actual Officer writes the Ticket, TPD gets the Money BUT since you plan to have Cameras do it, now you will most likely hire a Company to issue the Tickets so TPD will only get about $8.42 from each Ticket. The biggest problem I see is that the School Zone Lights start flashing Way before Kids start heading to School and way after School has Started as well as way before School lets out and way after the Kids are gone. You can trim the Time down by about 2 Hours. I rarely see anyone speeding through the Zone so I don’t think this is Necessary or worth spending any money on. It looks more like a Pet Project or a Pay Back Deal.
If this is seriously considered, it must be amended to include a similar fine for children/their parents who text while walking in school zones. While speeding should be punished, so should inattention to one’s surroundings.