LABELLE, Fla. — Drivers in Hendry County will need to watch their speed in school zones because of new cameras.
As Fox 4’s Hendry County Community Correspondent, Austin Schargorodski works in the area every day, so he went to the camera launch event in LaBelle to see how they could make school zones safer.
Watch Austin's report here:
On Thursday county leaders, the school district, and the sheriff’s office came together to announce the launch of these cameras. They say Hendry County is the first in southwest Florida to roll them out, and the timing couldn’t be better.
Sheriff Steve Whidden says the data speaks for itself.
“Just in this past five day period, almost 9,000 cars were doing 11 miles an hour over,” said Whidden.
These cameras will track those speeders. They’ll automatically send tickets to drivers who go 10 mph or more over the limit. Whidden says this technology could reduce speeding by up to 80%, and free up deputies to focus on other critical work.
But, Superintendent Mike Swindle said it’s more than that.
“Being able to do this gives us the opportunity to give another layer of support and protection to these children,” said Swindle. "It’s so great to be able to do this and set the pace in the state for what needs to happen for our students.
Swindle says the cameras are now active at 11 schools in Hendry County. Through January, speeders will get a warning, but come Feb. 1, they’ll get a $100 fine.
Altumint, the company that makes the cameras, says this program won’t cost the county a dime.
“This is a violator funded program. There are no taxpayers that will pay for this program. Even if it goes to zero, we just simply don’t send the invoice,” said Jason Norton, Altumint Vice President.
Norton said all violations go through a review process with the DMV and the Sheriff’s Office before a citation is mailed out. The County says no points will be assessed for violations and they will not appear on driving records.
