NEW KENT COUNTY, Va. — New Kent County will launch a photo enforcement initiative to crack down on drivers who speed in school zones. The sheriff's office is using two cameras at each of its four school zones, to capture photos of drivers going above the posted speed limit during school hours.
Photo speed cameras will be active at the beginning and end of school days when warning lights near the cameras are flashing.
A 30-day warning period will start in December and full enforcement will begin on January 16, 2024.
The initiative comes at a crucial time, according to Chief Deputy Lee Baily, who cited a 2022 county-wide report on speeding.
"During a five-day period, there were 2,300 violations that were noted," Bailey said. "So, obviously, that indicates that there's a major speeding issue within our school zones."
Bailey said it's not just school zones seeing an increase in speeding.
"I've been in the business going on my 34th year, I have never seen speeds like we're seeing today," Bailey said. "I mean, we're getting violators out on Rt. 60 in excess of 130 miles an hour, the interstate [I-64] near 140 miles an hour."
Bailey said the reason behind the increase in speed violations could be staffing shortages.
"We just don't, unfortunately, have the manpower to be everywhere to enforce the speed limit on all of our roads," Bailey explained. "Certainly our goal with the photo enforcement is to have these numbers go to zero."
Bailey said similar initiatives have proven successful, saying he's spoken with other jurisdictions in Southwest Virginia that saw over a 90% decrease in speed violations in school zones because of cameras.
Speeding in school zones is not just an issue in New Kent County.
Henrico County Police report 493 violations so far this year.
Hanover County saw a slight uptick from 15 school-zone speeding tickets written in 2022 to 21 written so far this year.
"We've had some near misses with people out directing traffic, in the school zones. There is a lot of traffic that goes through the school zones each day. So obviously, their safety is paramount," Bailey said.
Richmond Police Report 45 summonses for speeding in a school zone over the last year.
Richmond is also piloting a photo enforcement program, placing two cameras near Linwood Holton Elementary and two others at Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts.
Once those are in place, a similar 30-day warning period will begin, followed by actual enforcement.
After the 30-day warning period, the registered owner of a vehicle could be fined if found to be traveling at a speed of at least 11 miles per hour above the posted school crossing zone.
The first penalty is $50, and all subsequent penalties are $100.
In Richmond, safety cameras will be in operation for up to two hours during the morning arrival times and up to two hours during afternoon dismissal times when school is in session.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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