School zone speeders beware! Some cities plan to install cameras to catch you
COCONUT CREEK - City staff is working to bring cameras to deliver automated tickets for speed violations near schools.
"I think it's a good idea," Luke Dessalines, a driver picking up a student at Monarch High School Monday.
Between the cities, seven school zones, slowing down drivers with cameras sounded appealing until some people heard the camera system will issue tickets for going 10 miles an hour over speed limits as students go to school, sit in class and as they head home.
"Oh, no," Dessalines said. "I (am not for) the fines, man."
Others including students like Hector Cordero see the need for such intervention.
"I think it's an excellent idea because a lot of guys speed randomly here," Cordero said.
Mayor Josh Rydell said city leaders agreed to move forward toward buying speed monitors. City staff is currently vetting potential vendors, Rydell said. The city could install and use such cameras whenever they see fit thanks to a bi-partisan Florida law passed this year that allows school zone photo enforcement as of July 1st.
While Coconut Creeks plan will not replace police, it could turn a profit with 60,000 people on the city's main road, Rydell said. That money would mostly buy crossing guards and valuable lessons for drivers, he added.
"They didn't want to do something that's going to break the bank," Rydell said. "We didn't want somebody that's going to get a fine that's going to prevent them from paying their rent or some crucial bill. We're moving forward with something like this to better educate."
Other cities in South Florida are discussing acquiring school zone camera systems too.
"This is a tool to protect our most vulnerable: our children and our students," Rydell said.
