LABELLE, Fla — It’s now been nine months since Hendry County installed school zone speed cameras to slow drivers down, so Fox 4’s Hendry County Community Correspondent, Austin Schargorodski, got curious about how much of a difference they’ve made.
He reached out to the company that installed them, which told him Hendry County has made one of the biggest improvements in the state.
Watch to hear about the difference the cameras have made so far:
Austin was there for the rollout of these cameras in December, showing how they track speeders. Drivers get a $100 ticket for going 10 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit. Because of that, Hendry County Schools Director of Safety and Transportation Curtis Clay says he’s seen a night and day difference in the way people drive.
“We’re seeing people pay more attention to the school zone when schools happening, and that hands down makes things safer for our children especially the ones walking and riding their bikes to school,” Clay said.
Chief Revenue Officer Jason Norton of Altumint, the company that installed the cameras, says the drop in violations has been massive.
“There were over 64,000 violations. This was before anything was done or any warnings were sent. And then in the last month of the last school year, there were only 2,700 sent, and that’s a drop of 96.5% in violations. It’s an amazing story for Hendry County,” Norton said.
A portion of each violation also goes back to student safety. More than $22,000 is for the crossing guards program and more than $54,000 goes to the school district. They plan to use the money for upgrades like new radios and communication devices to strengthen the guardian program.
“We are going to go after anything possible to make our schools as safe as they can be. Any new technology that comes out, anything that’s happening we’re going after it,” Clay said.
