If you're speeding through Hillsborough County school zones, you may want to think twice. Within three weeks, thousands of notices have been sent out to drivers caught putting the petal to the metal.
This comes after the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and Board of County Commissioners partnered to launch "Operation Safe Passage" last year. This is its new traffic safety program, aiming to protect kids from speeders. It also follows Gov. Ron DeSantis' signing of HB 657 in 2023, which made speed cameras legal in school zones.
The Hillsborough program went live again for the school year on Sept. 22.
On "Florida Matters Live & Local," Master Sgt. Kara Baxter with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said it has seen about 8,700 violation notices since then.
She said it was surprising to see the number of notices being issued, but glad that drivers are becoming more aware of their speeds while in the school zones.
"We're glad that it's getting out now and drivers are becoming more aware and more conscious of their speeds while in the school zones," Baxter said.
The program partnered with third-party contract vendor RedSpeed to install camera technology in school zones to monitor and cite vehicles exceeding speed limits. They reported a 90% drop in notices being issued after the first year of enforcement.
When the school zone lights are flashing, violations will be issued to drivers exceeding 10 mph over the posted limit. The enforcement will apply 30 minutes before the earliest school starts until after school hours. Baxter said they are protecting students who participate in the county's before-school breakfast program.
"We are encouraging children to eat breakfast at school, have that good first meal of the day, but we're not protecting them. Therefore, we enforce that earlier time from earlier in the day so we can protect those kids," she said.
In Hillsborough County, the average speed limit in school zones ranges from 15-20 mph during school hours. Baxter encouraged drivers to follow the signage available within the area.
"There's plenty of signage available. Beacons are an obvious sign that you need to slow down," Baxter said. "There is that 10 miles an hour or over 10 miles an hour, in case you are unsure."
The cited drivers are required to pay the fine issued at RedSpeed's portal, although it would not affect the points on their driver's license.
When the driver receives the notification of violation in the mail, they can pay the fine, complete an affidavit for transferring liability if they were not operating the car at the time, or they have the option to bring the case to court. Either way, Baxter said, the fine will not affect their insurance.
The program aims to raise awareness of travel safety and protect young students. Baxter said that although there were misconceptions about the program, the goal is to keep kids safe.
"I know the misconception is it's lining sheriff's office pockets. 'It's a money grab,' we hear that frequently, but there are very specific guidelines stating where everything goes," Baxter said. "So it is not a money grab, per se. It's less about the money, it's more about bringing awareness to student safety."
So far, there has been 28 schools have participated in this program. You can find all the information about the participants here.
This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Matthew Peddie for "Florida Matters Live & Local." You can listen to the full episode here.
