Manatee County saw 3,500 speed violations in schools zones within two weeks

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Manatee County installed new speed detection cameras outside numerous schools across the county over the summer break.

The cameras activated on Aug. 12 and within two weeks, county officials said more than 3,000 drivers were issued warnings for traveling more than 10 mph over the speed limit.

The grace period where warnings will be issued expires next week on Sept. 11. After that, violators will face a $100 penalty.

Residents have mixed feelings about the speed detection cameras, which a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, now allows in school zones.

“I think it is invasive. We’ve got sign pollution, now we’ve got speed cameras,” Manatee County resident Charlie Conoley said. “They could have done away with all of that and just put a couple of speed tables. That would correct the problem just like that.”

Rachael Bystrom, a mother of two, had a similar reaction when she first learned about the cameras in her neighborhood.

“I do think that was my knee-jerk reaction, like, ‘Oh, that seems a little extreme.’ Then again, there are a lot of kids, not only during school but all the time playing and walking around, so I think we have to kind of put aside our initial reaction of ‘that seems extreme’ to ‘Well, we don’t want something to happen to a kid,'” Bystrom said.

Bystrom and Conoley live near Palma Sola Elementary School. They both feel the area has a problem with speeding drivers.

“Something definitely had to be done,” Conoley said. “It is all about safety.”

“We all need to slow down a little bit and like I said, me included. All of us need to slow down and be mindful that we are not the only ones using the road and the crosswalk,” Bystrom said.

The speed detection cameras are only active on school days, from 30 minutes before school starts until 30 minutes after it lets out for the day.

Visit here for more information and a map of activated school zones.

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