HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Hillsborough County leaders are ready to crack down on drivers who speed through school zones. Wednesday, they signed off on a plan that will eventually allow the county to use cameras to ticket more of those drivers.
During a Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners meeting, commissioners approved an ordinance allowing the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to select a vendor for those cameras and ultimately install them in at least 29 school zones within the county's jurisdiction.
According to Chief Deputy Thomas St. John, who spoke at the meeting, the overarching goal is to protect students who walk to and from school.
“Sheriff [Chad] Chronister is really excited to bring this program to our communities to help slow down traffic in our most vulnerable and precious areas — our schools," he said.
According to St. John, data supports the initiative. Recently, speed enforcement deputies ticketed drivers at the 29 school zones.
“There were 25,000 violations in excess of ten miles an hour or more over the speed limit," he said.
Hillsborough County can implement the speed-detection cameras because of a new Florida law, which took effect over the summer. It allows municipalities to use the cameras in school zones.
“This enforcement is much needed in our county in all the counties because there's so many people that really just speed through the school zone,” Commissioner Gwen Myers told ABC Action News.
During the meeting, her colleagues had similar thoughts before advancing the camera initiative in a unanimous vote.
“I am unambiguously in favor of this," said Commissioner Harry Cohen. “As everyone knows, we are one of the most dangerous places in the country for bicyclists and pedestrians.”
The money for the program will come from the state. State Representative Traci Koster was a sponsor of the bill.
“I just think we've seen accidents. We've seen tragedies. We’re losing crossing guards. They don't want to do it anymore. So why not? We have the technology. The technology works," she said.
Once the cameras are installed, drivers caught going 10 miles per hour over the speed limit in school zones will be fined $100.
No cameras have been installed yet. First, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office must select a vendor.
Jenoptik USA, a Jupiter-based tech firm, plans to bid on the contract, according to the company's business development manager, Hassan Dabaja.
“Protecting the students, the crossing guards, the loved ones should definitely be our priority, and it is our priority," he said. “It’s the right thing to do at the end of the day.”
Though the cameras have been compared to red-light cameras, Dabaja said that's not the best comparison since the school zone cameras would only be active during the short periods when students arrive at and depart from their schools.
According to the sheriff's office, video recorded by the cameras will only be used to enforce those infractions. After a case has been adjudicated, the video that corresponds with it will be destroyed.
Additionally, there will be a 30-day grace period and a thorough public education campaign before any speed-detection cameras are used to issue fines.
Tony Hendrickson, who has seen occasional speeding through a school zone near his home in Tampa, is not sure the cameras will help discourage speeding.
“I’m not 100% sure that they’re going to make a huge difference with the common driver," he said.
However, he thinks the initiative would be very effective if the additional revenue brought in from speeding tickets is applied to other safety improvements, like more sidewalks and better crosswalks.
According to Hillsborough County, these 29 school zones will be prioritized under the initiative:
- Bay Crest Elementary School
- Bloomingdale High School
- Buchanan Middle School
- Burnett Middle School
- Burns Middle School
- Citrus Park Elementary School
- Clair Mel Elementary School
- Claywell Elementary School
- Deer Park Elementary School
- Frost Elementary School
- Giunta Middle School
- Jennings Middle School
- Kingswood Elementary School
- Lennard High School
- Lopez Elementary School
- Lopez Exceptional Center
- Martinez Middle School
- McKitrick Elementary School
- Mort Elementary School
- Nelson Elementary School
- Plato Academy
- Riverview High School
- Rodgers Middle School
- Ruskin Elementary School
- Sgt. Smith Middle School
- Steinbrenner High School
- Town N Country Elementary School
- Winthrop Charter School
- Yates Elementary School
