MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Martinsville Police Department wants people to slow down at all its schools, so it installed speed enforcement cameras.
The cameras were installed in September, and they are currently in an implementation phase meaning drivers have only received warnings. Chief Robert Fincher with the Martinsville Police Department said it’s sent out 15,000 warnings.
Recommended Videos
“Our message is please slow down in school zones. Not just here but anywhere across the United States that kid safety is so important. We’ve gotta do all that we can to protect our children, and this is just one more way that we can do it to protect them,” said Fincher.
The speed limit is reduced at every Martinsville City Public School before and after school. If someone exceeds the speed limit during this time, they could receive a fine of $100 after the implementation period is over. 10 News asked Chief Fincher when the grace period is over, but he would not answer that question.
Every school has a different reduced speed limit. At Martinsville Middle, the speed limit is normally 25 miles per hour. However, when the cameras are flashing, they are 15 miles per hour.
“Anything that we can do to protect the children going into the schools is super important to us and we began looking at data as far as the number of vehicles that were exceeding the speed limit and we just felt like something needed to be done. We’ve attempted traditional enforcement methods and they’re really hit or miss. This is one way to guarantee that the enforcement is being done,” said Chief Fincher.
Director of School Safety TJ Slaughter with Martinsville City Public Schools said there haven’t been any crashes, but he did receive several complaints.
“We typically would get complaints from our school administrators, parents. Then, I’ll contact police departments and ask for extra patrols in the areas work radar but of course, law enforcement can only come out for a short period of time to try to slow the traffic down,” said Slaughter.
Chief Fincher agrees that having the cameras at the schools will help with traffic instead of stationing a police officer in the area.
“He might be able to stop one car before the lights are no longer flashing. The enforcement reach is kind of limited and that’s why we want to get this message out there. This enforcement is unforgiving. It is going to capture every speeder and at every school. Every time the lights are flashing,” said Fincher.
Slaughter said he has already seen a difference the cameras make.
“Just driving through the school zones myself I have seen people, for lack of better terms, checking up and paying more attention while they are in a school zone,” said Slaughter