The City of Trenton discussed the possibility of adding speed-detection cameras in its school zones at Monday’s City Council meeting.
Chief of Public Safety Matthew Rexroat said his department conducted a speed study in Trenton. Over one week, the study found over 18,000 cars went through the high school’s school zones. Of those 18,000, over 2,000 cars were exceeding the speed limit by at least 11 miles per hour.
Rexroat said the cameras would be installed in all four school zones.
The cameras are equipped with lasers to track cars speed. The cameras will take a picture of the car’s license plate and send it to either Rexroat or a designee (Rexroat said he will almost always be the one receiving the plates), who will filter the plates to prevent emergency vehicles in the act of going to a call from receiving tickets.
Rexroat said in order for the cameras to give a citation, the car must be doing 11 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit. All citations from the camera will be $100, regardless of how far over the speed limit the driver was traveling. The citations will also not result in any points on the driver’s license, nor will they impact a driver’s insurance, as they will not contact insurance companies about these citations.
Rexroat said a citation giving by a police officer for 11 miles per hour over the limit in a school zone is over $480 and results in three points on the driver’s license, and the driver’s insurance would be notified of the violation.
He added that the fine increases as the driver’s speed increases if they are pulled over by a police officer.
Of the $100 from the citation, only $35 goes back to the City of Trenton, and that money can only be used on certain things, such as equipment, Rexroat said.
“It is not a revenue builder,” Rexroat said. “It is a way to slow people down in our school zone.”
Councilman Cloud Haley said Trenton Public Safety is a one-man operation, so the cameras would allow them to go to calls when necessary while still holding drivers accountable for speeding in school zones. Rexroat added that this would be used along with officers using radar, not in place of them.
Rexroat said state law only allows the cameras to be in operation 30 minutes before the shool breakfast program starts, then during the school day until 30 minutes after school is dismissed. If school is not in session, the cameras will not be active.
The cameras will not be active until at least next fall if the City Council chooses to purchase them.
Rexroat said no local areas have these cameras yet, but Blue Light Systems, LLC, one of the companies that produces the cameras and the one that helped conduct the speed study, said they have seen a 90 percent decrease in speeding after the cameras were put in place.
City Attorney David Lang had some concerns about the cameras.
One concern he had was the lack of other counties, cities and towns using these cameras. He said he would prefer to let someone else try them out and see how it goes before Trenton steps in.
He also worried about the feeling of “Big Brother” and the possibility of Trenton gaining a reputation like the one Waldo had gained.
Rexroat reiterated that this was not to create revenue, it was to prevent speeding.
“We’re not going to be Waldo,” City Manager Lyle Wilkerson said.
Rexroat said his officers have written three tickets to drivers who were doing more than 20 miles per hour over the speed limit in the last three weeks. He hoped that these cameras would put that to a halt.
The cameras do not require any up front cost, as all of the companies make their money by receiving a portion of the $100 citation, Rexroat said.
The Council decided to move this from a discussion item to an action item at the next meeting. The City will vote on the issue at its Nov. 13 meeting.
The City also voted to send a letter to the Florida Department of Transportation to move the speed limit change — from 30 to 40 miles per hour — on Main Street south of 26 further south, past Palms Medical Group.
The City said this would allow them to extend the sidewalk to Palms and add a golf cart crossing.
FDOT says golf cart crossings must be in an area in which the speed limit is no greater than 35 miles per hour
The only places south of 26 where that is the case are First and Second Avenues, but both of them are one-way streets on the east side (Courthouse parking on First and Clerk of Court parking on Second).
The City will have to wait on FDOT’s decision.