TAMPA, Fla. — Without a doubt, it’s the best part of Wendy Mason’s day.
Each weekday afternoon, she makes the trip to Ferrell Girls Preparatory Academy in East Tampa to pick her granddaughters up from school.
“I love every minute,” said Mason. “Listening to how their day is when I pick them up, that’s our bonding time.”
But sometimes, it can be frustrating because of what she sees from the school car line: speeders.
“All the time,” Mason said. “It’s very frustrating because, in my opinion, even if you don’t have children, you have to think about it. What if you did, and what if these were your children? Would you want somebody speeding in a school zone?”
To Mason’s delight, a solution to school zone speeding might be in the works in both Hillsborough County and now in the City of Tampa.
Thursday, Tampa City Council took the initial steps toward a safety initiative made possible by a new Florida law. Under that new law, cameras can now be installed at school zones to catch and ticket speeders.
Tampa is considering a plan to install those cameras at these 13 school zones:
- Alexander Elementary
- B.T. Washington Elementary
- Cleveland Elementary
- Ferrell Middle Magnet
- Lomax Elementary Magnet
- Orange Grove Middle Magnet
- Potter Elementary
- Shaw Elementary
- Shore Elementary Magnet
- Sulphur Springs Elementary
- Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary
- West Tampa Elementary
- Young Middle Magnet
“I think this is common sense,” said Councilman Luis Viera during the Thursday meeting. “This is something that will improve public safety, I think, and save lives.”
Earlier this week, ABC Action News traveled to the City of Eustis, located an hour northeast of Orlando, to learn more about the concept of school zone speed detection cameras.
Eustis was one of the first municipalities to embrace the idea and is now likely days away from installing the cameras at two of its school zones.
“It’s about changing behavior for the better,” said Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri. “The only way to get people’s attention is to hit them in their wallet. The goal is to have no tickets. Zero citations.”
In Eustis, drivers caught on camera going 10 miles per hour over the speed limit in school zones will be fined $100.
The cameras will only be active during designated times. Additionally, Capri said humans will review the citations, and if there’s any discrepancy, a ticket will be voided.
Like the idea or not, Capri thinks the cameras will soon be in all corners of the Sunshine State.
“I think it’s going to be widespread in Florida before the end of 2024. I think you’re going to see a lot of agencies jump on this, and it’s going to be fast,” he said. “There’s nothing more precious than protecting our young generation, and this is going to do that.”
Back at the school car line at Ferrell Girls Preparatory Academy, Mason agrees and hopes Tampa City Council will follow through and deliver cameras at the 13 school zones.
“If you are careless enough to speed in a school zone, you don’t care, and so you should get a ticket,” she said.
In the Thursday meeting, Tampa council members advanced the idea in a 5-to-1 vote.
While most council members spoke in support of the idea, two posited some concerns.
Councilman Bill Carlson voiced concern about how the camera vendor will be picked. Meanwhile, Councilman Alan Clendenin, the lone ‘no’ vote, said he will not support the installation of cameras.
“In the advent of AI, we don’t know where things are going with these types of programs, and it causes me a lot of concern,” he said. “The installation of cameras — I think it’s wrong for our community. It’s something that, you know, I’m just fundamentally against.”
Council members will discuss the plan again on Jan. 11 before giving it a final vote.
