MOUNT DORA, Fla. – Drivers speeding through three Mount Dora school zones will no longer get a warning before a ticket arrives in the mail.
The Mount Dora Police Department’s school-zone speed cameras are back for the new school year, and unlike last year, citations begin immediately. The cameras issue $100 citations to drivers caught speeding in designated school zones.
The cameras were installed last year near Triangle Elementary School, Round Lake Charter School and along Lincoln Avenue near Mount Dora Middle School. Police said the locations were chosen after a traffic study identified them as some of the city’s biggest hot spots for speeding and other traffic violations.
Corey Bowman, who lives near Triangle Elementary, said he has noticed a change since the cameras were installed.
“I know that it’s been a lot easier to get out of this road without having to worry about someone speeding down the road,” Bowman said.
Police said the cameras are intended to improve safety and help officers enforce speed limits in busy school areas.
“Everything’s layered in law enforcement and security,” said Jim Deleu, deputy chief of the Mount Dora Police Department. “So it’s basically considered a force multiplier. These cameras can do things that maybe 20 officers throughout the week couldn’t do.”
Last year, the city had a three-month warning period before citations were issued. After that period ended, more than 2,600 citations were mailed in December. By April, that number had dropped to just over 1,900, a 27% decrease that police said shows more drivers were slowing down.
Over the course of the school year, Deleu said more than 11,000 citations were mailed.
Some parents have questioned whether the cameras are accurate, but Deleu said the department verifies the information collected before citations are finalized.
“They are calibrated on a continual basis based on industry standards, to the point where we receive documents before there’s a magistrate hearing,” Deleu said.
Police said they hope the number of citations continues to decline this school year as more drivers follow the speed limit in school zones.