The Decatur Police Department has issued fewer speeding citations since the speed cameras in school zones went live in November 2024.
State lawmakers, however, are attempting to ban the cameras because of complaints that it’s hard to fight the fines and concerns about the large amounts of revenue the cameras generate.
The state House Motor Vehicles committee recommended that House Bill 225 be passed during its meeting on Feb. 18.
Over 100 representatives signed on to Rep. Dale Washburn’s (R – Macon) bill. He told the committee, of which he is a member, that banning speed cameras is his highest priority this session.
Washburn said it was easy to garner co-signers for the bill. He could’ve gotten more “because people are fully aware of the abusive nature of this school zone camera operation and how it is entrapping people and raking in millions of dollars in the process,” Washburn said.
Washburn acknowledged that many kids walk to school in Decatur, and he said he’s not suggesting that every community is abusing speed cameras in school zones.
Decatur has cameras in five of its school zones that operate one hour before school and one hour afterschool. Cameras are located near Beacon Hill Middle School, Clairemont Elementary School, Westchester Elementary School, and Winnona Park Elementary School to deter speeding motorists.
“We run it during those times because that is the greatest risk for kids as they walk, bike and ride to and from school each day,” Decatur Police Chief Scott Richards said during the committee meeting.
Citations will be issued by mail and carry a $100 fine for the first violation and a $150 fine for subsequent violations.
The city contracted with Blueline Solutions in 2023 to install and operate the speed cameras. Before citations were issued, the police department held a public information session beginning Sept. 30, 2024. There was a 30-day warning period that began on Oct. 14, during which only warning citations were issued, and the cameras went live on Nov. 13.
Richards said Blueline did a speed study before the public information period. During those five days, about 22,443 vehicles were speeding in the school zones.
The speed cameras only issue a citation if a driver goes over 10 miles per hour over the school speed limit of 25 mph.
“During the public information and education phase, that number decreased to 7,491 which is a 66.6 percent reduction,” Richards said. “During the 30-day warning period, that number decreased to 2,284, which is a 23.2 percent reduction. Once formal enforcement began, violations decreased to 1,797, which is a 2.2 percent reduction.”
Overall, Decatur has seen a 92 percent decrease in speeding violations since the cameras started operating.
“We have certainly seen a decrease in the number of citations issued and also a change in driver behavior,” Richards said. “There is no way that we would get a reduction in speed in school zones using conventional law enforcement technology.”
Decatur officials also met with Washburn earlier and were vocal about a few things related to home rule and flexibility during the Decatur City Commission meeting on Feb. 3.
“That reminds us how every city is different, every county is different and we’re navigating different challenges. We were able to show him how our kids walk to school,” Commissioner Kelly Walsh said. “I got a chance to say not every city lives like this, but we model what I would think a lot of communities would like to do, so can we plan for that and have some flexibility.”
Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett also attended the House Motor Vehicles committee meeting on Feb. 18 to speak against HB 225 and share information about the city’s cameras.
“We also feel like we’re doing it right. We have invested heavily in our sidewalk and bicycle infrastructure. It’s estimated that we have about 50 percent of our kids walking and biking to school every single day,” Garrett said. “I feel like our program is effective.”
She added that the city has to address pedestrian and bicycle safety.
“Our data from the last five years indicates we have had over 3,500 crashes, four fatal crashes and 43 serious injury crashes. Most of those involve bicyclists and pedestrians,” Garrett said. “Public safety and keeping our students safe as they go to school and come home from school is a priority.”
The bill allowing school zone cameras was passed in 2018. Washburn said the bill may have been well-intended at the time, but since then speed cameras have generated millions of dollars in revenue from fines and fees.
According to The Macon Melody, a community newspaper in Macon-Bibb County, reported last year Bibb County had collected about $5.7 million from speeding tickets. Bibb County has an agreement with Optotraffic, which later became Altumint, to manage the cameras. The school zone cameras began issuing citations in October 2024.
“After that, I began to get more and more and more constituent complaints,” Washburn told the Motor Vehicles committee.
The lawmaker has also had experience with these citations, saying he received one ticket from a speed camera. With that experience, he was concerned that the envelope wasn’t clearly identified as a citation, and there was no easy way to fight the citation.
“This ain’t about me getting tickets,” Washburn said. “But I will tell you, I was sort of thankful I got it because it showed me some of the abuses that are involved. For instance, the envelope could’ve been easily been thrown away as junk mail.”
He said the envelope was not clearly identified and the ticket was written to his wife because the car was in her name. Upon doing more research, he learned that there’s little recourse for fighting the ticket and that judges often uphold the citations.
“Ladies and gentlemen [of the committee], this system is wrong, it is abusive, and it needs to be stopped,” Washburn said.
This story was provided by WABE content partner Decaturish.
