State legislators could soon consider a House Bill – which would ban school zone speed cameras. House Bill 225 would repeal House Bill 978, which passed in 2018 and allowed for the use of cameras in school zones.
“It is time to do the right thing and ban these cameras,” said the bill’s author, Dale Washburn (R-Macon). “While these cameras may have originally been enacted with good intent, the results have shown they do not make school zones any safer. They do not enhance public safety. Instead, they have created an avenue for local governments and out-of-state companies to generate millions of dollars at the expense of everyday Georgians. We gave these cameras a chance, and the data has shown they do not do their job. I am grateful to my colleagues in the House who have co-sponsored this legislation, with 100 representatives supporting it. That is more than half of the members of the House.”
Local legislator, District 71 State House Representative Jutt Howard – is weighing the arguments for and against the bill.
“I’m for the rule of law, and especially in school zones, we need people to travel at a good safe speed,” Howard told WLBB Radio. “We got kids, we got parents coming and going, a lot going on in the early mornings and afternoons. I’m all for whatever we need to do to make sure our school zones and our whole community is safe. My concern with these cameras, and I think that’s what this bill addresses, is just whether they are consistently performing within the rules and the times that they’re posted to be capturing speeders.”
Howard says – he believes there is proof of the cameras not performing accurately in some communities in the state.
“If we cannot find a way to ensure that these monitoring devices are running at the right times and when they’re issuing a civil penalty that they’re accurate, then I don’t think we need them. I don’t think that’s fair to anybody,” Howard said. “If we can find a way to make sure that these cameras are operating correctly, then I’m not against them, but I would like to see that revenue stay in that school and go back to school safety or something else we can do to utilize those funds there.”
Howard – who is Vice President Of Business Operations for NG Turf in Whitesburg – says he believes there is a mis-conception – that the cameras will snap your vehicle’s info – only if you are speeding over the lowered limit – prior to and after school hours… however, he points out that – the system will ticket you as well – if you are over the normal set limit during all other school hours.
“I’ve actually had some employees… Matter of fact, I paid a lot of these citations for some of my employee vehicles that have gone through these school zones,” he said. “But a lot of times, I believe it’s a misconception that it’s the reduced speed limit is the only time that it should be doing that. And again, it’s during the whole time the kids are there, the speed limit is reduced during those peak times of the day in the morning and afternoon, but it still is capable of writing – based at the normal speed limit during the times which the kids are there.”
HB 225 has received a second reading in the House.
The full text of the bill can be found here:
