Baldwin speeders, beware. If you’re speeding through the school zone on Willingham Avenue near Baldwin Elementary School, you’re going to get caught.
The city has installed automated school zone speed enforcement cameras. Police Chief Charlie Webb says they “are up and running and scheduled to start this Thursday.”
Chief Webb says the goal is to reduce excessive speeding in the school zone. Enforcement will begin on March 12 with a 30-day warning period. During this time, vehicles traveling 11 mph or more above the posted school speed limit in Baldwin will receive warning citations in the mail. Once the warning period ends, the tickets will carry fine.
State law sets the fine at $75 plus a $25 processing fee. Second and subsequent offenses will be $125 with a $25 processing fee. Vehicle owners will not be allowed to renew their vehicle registration or transfer the title of their vehicle until the fine is paid.
The citations are considered civil violations, much like tollway or handicap parking violations, and will not affect the driver’s license or insurance, according to a press release issued by Webb.
If they choose to, anyone who receives a ticket may contest if in court.
Chief Webb says the decision to install the cameras was made after the city conducted speed studies in the area. Over a five-day period, 19,695 vehicles traveled through the school zones. Of those, 2,375 – or 12% – were traveling at speeds at or above 11 mph over the posted limit. “If we used this data to estimate yearly violations, it could have exceeded 85,000 speeding vehicles,” says Webb.
In 2018, 1,514 people died on Georgia’s roads. These deaths could have been prevented by practicing safe driving behaviors, including driving within the posted speed limit.
