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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.
The cameras on Florida Boulevard issue tickets to anyone driving more than 10 miles per hour over the limit from an hour before school starts until an hour after it ends.
“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 rides his bike to pick up and drop off his son at Neptune Beach Elementary, where he has to look out for cars going over the 15 mile per hour speed limit during dismissal.
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.”
Hernandez’s girlfriend was one of about 2500 drivers who got a letter during an eight week warning period for the new cameras according to 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.