Neptune Beach Police installed the cameras in two school zones on Florida Boulevard to reduce speeding during school hours.
NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. — More than 400 drivers in Neptune Beach are set to receive an unwelcome letter in the mail.
They were caught by the new automatic speed ticket cameras according to a new report from Neptune Beach Police.
On Florida Boulevard, cameras are set up to ticket drivers who exceed the speed limit by more than 10 mph from one hour before school begins until one hour after it finishes.
“We see that most people don’t slow down on this main road over here, and it’s kind of crazy,” said Neptune Beach Elementary parent Alex Hernandez.
Hernandez bikes to pick up and drop off his son at Neptune Beach Elementary, and during dismissal, he has to be cautious of cars exceeding the 15 mph speed limit.
He says things have improved since new ticketing cameras went in – in fact, his girlfriend got a letter in the mail.
“Just a warning,” said Hernandez. “She’s slowed down now.”
During an eight-week warning phase for these new cameras, Hernandez’s girlfriend was one of approximately 2,500 drivers who received a notification, as reported by Neptune Beach Police.
Hernandez feels cars are going slower – and now Neptune Beach Police Chief MJ Key has the statistics to prove it.
A speed study before cameras were installed showed about 380 drivers on Florida Boulevard going more than 10 over the limit in front of Beaches Chapel School and Neptune Beach Elementary per day.
That number dropped to about 62 per day during the warning period, to just 30 during the three weeks the cameras have been issuing $100 tickets, representing about a 92% drop in violations since the study.
“That’s a success to me,” Key said. “Regardless of how you feel about it, that’s a success to me for reducing the speed.”
Key pointed out that although the cameras are operated by a third party vendor, they’re paid for out of the citations.
“Say nobody speeds anymore through Neptune Beach in a school zone. It’s the greatest day ever. We still don’t owe this company any money,” Key said. “There’s not a single bit of tax dollars that will be spent.”
NBPD will leave the cameras on for the last few weeks of the school year, then turn them off for the summer and decide if they want to bring them back in the Fall.
“We do a lot to keep our kids safe inside the school,” said Key. “What are we doing outside the school? What are doing to safely get them from their home to the school? That’s what we’re trying to accomplish here.”
As of right now, the plan is to add cameras on Seagate Avenue by Fletcher Middle and Fletcher High in time for next school year, but Key says they can decide if they want to keep the cameras on a month-to-month basis.
