Florida law allows school zone camera tickets without flashing beacons, sparking outrage as zero appeals succeed in Hillsborough County
- Florida school zone cameras can ticket drivers even when flashing beacons aren’t on.
- Hillsborough County drivers have contested 46 tickets this year; none were dismissed.
- RedSpeed cameras statewide have generated nearly $32 million in less than a year.
Speeding in a school zone when there are kids around is an extremely bad idea, no matter what. Speed limits around schools are meant to keep kids safe, but in some cases, school zones are just turning into cash grabs. That’s what several residents in Florida say, and the details seem to support their frustration.
The controversy starts with signs that declare “20 mph when flashing.” Drivers are getting tickets from speed cameras even when that sign isn’t flashing. For example, Joe Weaver says he received a ticket for going 38 mph in what he believed was a 40 mph zone since the sign wasn’t flashing. It turns out, the sign in question can’t flash because it doesn’t have lighting around it to begin with.
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Most would think that Weaver has an open and shut case, then, and that his ticket would get dismissed. Sadly, that’s not the case, as Florida law that allows for the use of speed cameras in school zones doesn’t require signs to actually flash for the lower speed limit to be in effect and enforced. That’s right, the sign can indicate one thing while a driver gets ticketed for the opposite. “I got a raw deal,” Weaver told WPTV.
“I don’t like this law,” said Hillsborough County Magistrate Dr. Tom Santarlas who presides over speed zone camera appeals. Despite his personal view, his hands are somewhat tied: “There are times when the legislature falls short of its goal when enacting law; this is one of those times,” he said.
Here’s the kicker: simply contesting the ticket, which dozens have done in cases just like Weaver’s, costs more. One, named Karen Bowman, had to pay an additional $75 just to plead her case.
She received a ticket after going 33 mph in the school zone while the sign was not flashing. She lost her case because, again, the law is written in a way that makes the flashing aspect entirely unimportant despite the language on the sign to the contrary.
Unsurprisingly, David De La Espriella, a client relations director for the speed camera company vendor, thinks everything is going great. “I think it’s an excellent law,” he said. His employer, RedSpeed, has cameras in 35 jurisdictions in Florida. Across the state, it’s issued almost 500,000 tickets, generating some $32 million in under a year. Of those, fewer than 300 have been dismissed.