TAMPA, Fla. — When school is in session, Dan Orraca worries about the students who walk to West Tampa Elementary, which is across the street from his house.
“They need to be safe. They need to feel safe. The crossing guards need to feel safe,” he said.
Right now, he says speeding is a problem there.
“I’ve called Tampa Police Department a few times on it, and they say they had patrol cars. I’ve never seen a patrol car,” he said.
But soon, he will see a different type of deterrent: cameras designed to catch school zone speeders in the act and send them tickets.
In a Thursday vote, the Tampa City Council approved a contract to purchase the cameras, which are made possible by a new state law.
“This is not a cash grab by local government,” City Councilman Luis Viera said. “This is an attempt to help save lives of kids in school zones.”
Viera said he could support the idea because the cameras would only be active during drop-off and pick-up times, tickets would be capped at $100, and drivers would not receive tickets unless they were going more than 10 miles an hour over the speed limit.
“This is a problem I’d love to see expanded,” the councilman said. “I’d like to see it in every single school if we can, right?”
For now, though, the city has said the cameras will be installed at these 13 school zones:
- Alexander Elementary
- B.T. Washington Elementary
- Cleveland Elementary
- Ferrell Middle Magnet
- Lomax Elementary Magnet
- Orange Grove Middle Magnet
- Potter Elementary
- Shaw Elementary
- Shore Elementary Magnet
- Sulphur Springs Elementary
- Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary
- West Tampa Elementary
- Young Middle Magnet
Orraca can hardly wait.
“In my opinion, if they get a lot of tickets, people will slow down,” he said.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
