×

Why we need speed cameras near schools

If you are a reader of these weekly articles on vehicle and traffic laws and traffic safety, you are aware of the many times the subject of speed cameras for enforcement has been discussed. This week’s article is yet another one.

Speed cameras are being used more and more where school speed limits exist on streets and roads around schools and also in work zones when major road work is taking place. Where speed cameras are used, it is generally by contract between a municipality and a company that does all the camera installation and maintenance and an initial review of tickets. The company receives a percentage of the fines levied to the registered owner of the speeding vehicle.

Syracuse is one of the cities that recently installed 28 cameras in an effort to stop the high percentage of drivers who do not obey school speed limits. The installation of the cameras took place prior to the beginning of school this fall. Syracuse has been handing out warnings until Nov. 2, when the grace period ends. After that, drivers will face $50 tickets.

During the first two weeks, Sept. 3 to 17, nearly 60,000 drivers were issued warning tickets for speeding on Syracuse streets posted with school speed limits based on Syracuse Post Standard and WSYR-TV stories. If the city had enforced those 60,000 tickets, the fines would have reached approximately $3 million.

The highest recorded speed was 78 mph in a 25-mph zone, according to Sol Munoz, a spokesperson for the city. About one-third of the people ticketed were going 15 miles over the speed limit, she said. The speed cameras target drivers going too fast above school speed limits, where the legal limit is normally 10 mph below the city-wide limit. Thus, most school speed limits are set at 20 mph.

Where there is a posted school speed limit, speed cameras will only be active during posted school speed limit hours, which are generally 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on school days. Red light cameras will operate all of the time, regardless of whether school is in session, Munoz said.

Use of speed cameras around schools is controversial. Many people think it is just a money grab for the city, while others take the position that cameras are a deterrent to drivers who routinely speed near schools and disregard the signs that reduce the allowable speeds during school days.

Syracuse Chief of Police Joe Cecile pleaded to drivers to slow down near schools to “give out students one less thing to worry about.” He affirmed that the cameras were for the sake of kids’ safety, not merely a ploy to write more tickets.

The controversy is not just a local issue. The province of Ontario has installed numerous speed cameras near schools. Now, Ontario Premier Doug Ford wants to legislate against them. However, he is getting significant pushback from people all over the province who say the cameras are a significant deterrent to speeding near schools.

Regardless of opinions for or against the speed cameras, it surely seems that something is needed to attempt to slow traffic in the areas of schools, given the number of violations and the speed of the violators that Syracuse has experienced. If you feel strongly one way or another about this subject, send a short email with your opinion to me at: dwerner151@verizon.net

Starting at $3.92/week.

Subscribe Today