Speeding in a school zone? Osceola County won't let you get away with it anymore

OSCEOLA COUNTY - Osceola County is tired of people speeding in school zones. On Monday, county commissioners voted to do something about it.

The county will be putting up new cameras, which will mean there’s no getting away with speeding. If you’re going 11 miles an hour or more over the speed limit, and you pass one of these cameras, you get a ticket automatically.

There are already cameras all over the state that ticket people who run red lights. But when HB-657 passed this year, it allowed traffic cameras to cite drivers for speeding in school zones 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after class gets out. 

Osceola County’s Board of Commissioners is getting on board with that. District 3 Commissioner Brandon Arrington says people have been driving more aggressively since the pandemic, and he wants to use whatever tool he can to keep drivers and pedestrians safe.

"We're looking to use this opportunity to put more enforcement on our roadways because we know our sheriff's deputies can't be at every intersection, at every corner," said Commissioner Arrington.

Florida ranks third on the list of deadliest states for pedestrians. Osceola County, along with Orange, Volusia, Marion, Brevard, Lake, and Seminole counties all ranked in the top – or worst – third for pedestrian fatalities in the state.

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That’s according to data from the Department of Health and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

The NHTSA also says speeding is listed as the direct cause of over a quarter of traffic fatalities… and driving ten miles an hour over the speed limit doubles the risk of a crash. 

"If this is a tool that we can use to make our roads safer, our board is going to look at doing that," said Commissioner Arrington.

Osceola County still has to decide on a vendor for its cameras.

One option is a company called Altumint; the City of Eustis has already partnered with them.

Kevin Embronze is Altumint’s CCO. He says there will be indication signs or sometimes flashing lights warning people about the cameras once they go up. The idea, he says, is to stop people from speeding; not to give them a ticket.

"When a speed camera is deployed, you'll see a 30% reduction in accidents in that general area," said Embronze. "So the data is showing that the citizens and particularly the children are benefiting by this technology."

When cameras are installed in Osceola County, anyone who’s caught will get a $100 ticket.

That money gets divided up.

$20 for the General Fund, $60 for the County’s fund to pay for the speed detection systems, $3 for the Department of Law Enforcement, $12 for the school district where the ticket was issued, and $5 for the School Crossing Guard Recruitment and Retention Program.

Commissioner Arrington says the cameras are meant as a deterrent. 

"We're not looking to make money. We just want our kids to be safe going and coming from school."

Remember, this is just the first step for Osceola County’s cameras. 

In the next three to six months, the Commission will decide which vendor to go with, and which intersections will have cameras added.