- Tallahassee, Florida, recently introduced new speed cameras in local school zones.
- In just one month, it racked up well over $300,000 worth of fines on drivers.
- The area plans to install several more cameras in the coming months.
Speed cameras are always a lightning rod for debate, but in Tallahassee, there’s one thing they’re not: unprofitable. With just two cameras installed near school zones, the city has turned a simple traffic enforcement tool into a six-figure revenue stream. In a little over a month, those cameras generated more than 3,000 speeding tickets, racking up $318,000 in fines.
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Technically, those tickets came across a span of just over a month from March 28 through May 2. Nevertheless, they caught an average of 132 speeders every day that school was in session during that time. Each one of them received a $100 fine. That’s a cool $13,200 a day in fines on average. Not bad for a pair of roadside boxes with lenses.
More: Honolulu Speed Cameras Catch 30,000 Speeders A Week And That’s A Problem
Interestingly, not all of that cash goes straight to the state. $21 goes to the vendor who maintains the cameras. The rest goes to various state and city programs. Government officials say they’ll pay for the program itself before funneling cash to other things. If speeders aren’t careful, they could contribute millions every year to the Tallahassee government.
It expects to add another 23 cameras over the rest of this year. Once all the cameras are up, they could issue some 40,000 tickets each month based on the current data from April. That’s roughly $1.5 million per month and $18.6 million each year. The message seems clear. Slow down, or pay up.
“Long term, yes, I think it’s going to be a huge success for us as far as trying to deter any type of speeding that’s going to end up possibly hurting a child or a school crossing guard or teacher or parent,” TPD Major Jeff Mahoney told the Tallahassee Democrat. His comments aren’t without merit either.
Each of the tickets described above refers to a driver who is going at least 11 mph over the posted limit. During school hours, the limit is usually 15 or 20 mph so someone going 31 mph is going to get a speed camera ticket. At least one person the cameras captured was going 73 mph. Maybe that person should face more than a $100 fine.
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#Speeders #Tallahassee #318K #Month #City
