CAPE CORAL, Fla. — It only takes one speeder to change a life forever.
In May, Fox 4's Bella Line told you about the city council's plan to put up cameras to slow down speeders in school zones. Now they are moving forward and the police tell me, they're on board.
"This is our precious population. We want to protect our kids," said Lisa Greenberg, Cape Coral Police Public Affairs Officer.
School is back in session and Greenberg says right now is the time they see the most speeders in school zones because drivers are getting used to them again after they were off for summer break.
Watch Bella's full report below.
"We try to make sure that if officers between calls are available during the times when school is going in or out of session, kids are going to be outside more, that's the time that we have those officers stationed outside of those schools," said Greenberg.
Moving officers around may not be necessary anymore.
In June, the Cape Coral City Council unanimously voted to adopt the school zone speed detection system. If a driver goes more than 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit during that time it's a $100 fine.
These are the school zones they are looking into adding these speed detectors:
- Ida S Baker High Challenger Middle
- Diplomat Middle
- Mariner Middle
- Trafalgar Middle
- Cape Elementary
- Diplomat Elementary
- Gulf Elementary
- Oasis Charter Elementary
- Patriot Elementary
- Pelican Elementary
- Skyline Elementary
- Trafalgar Elementary
- Heritage Charter Academy
- St Andrews Catholic
- Nicaea Academy of Cape Coral
- Cape Coral Christian School
"Oh, it's really packed. It's very busy and I think it's needed," said one woman.
Today, I met with people picking up their kids at Patriot Elementary School, a problem spot. A city traffic study found this school zone off Skyline Boulevard has the most amount of speeders.
"I think there's a ton of speeders, during and not during school time. I drop them off and I'm going 20 through the school zone and people are just flying through here," said Sara Taylor, a parent at Patriot Elementary School.
They both told FOX 4 they think the speed detection cameras are necessary for the area.
"Even if I had an older kid that went here, I probably wouldn't let him walk if we lived a block away," said Taylor. “It’s like every day there’s a close call."
In June, Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore said they could be up and running during the 2025-2026 school year.
On Wednesday Cape City Council will meet again for a public hearing to discuss a contract.
FOX 4 will keep you up to date on their decision.
