Manatee County making changes to school speed zone cameras, speed limits
BRADENTON, Fla. - Changes are coming to Manatee County's school speed zone cameras after commissioners received complaints as soon as the cameras went into operation. It came as many drivers were caught off guard – some even getting multiple tickets.
Local perspective:
Along Tara Booulevard in Manatee County, school speed zone cameras can catch a driver off guard.
"The only speed limit sign posted is when it says 20 miles per hour when flashing, otherwise there’s no speed limit zone all the way down the area," said Liz Gabrick, a driver in that area.
Gabrick said the cameras have sent around 1,500 tickets to drivers outside of Tara Elementary School. She received three citations and was ticketed when the flashing lights were turned off.
"Kids first, but do it in a manner where there’s transparency," said Gabrick. "Let us know with the flashing light, let us know with the speed limit sign, let us know what you expect of us and let us adhere to that. Let us be good citizens to adhere to that. This just wasn’t set up correctly."
What they're saying:
Manatee County commissioners agreed.

"There’s a time and place for these things, but they always end up being a money grab and this is no exception," said Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse.
That's why Manatee County Commissioner Dr. Bob McCann proposed a change to end the use of cameras during the school day while students are in class.
"We got rid of those red light cameras just for that purpose," McCann said. "We aren’t there to monitor or change behavior. What we are there for is to protect that child’s safety during the school zone period."
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Big picture view:
The school speed zone cameras will now only ticket drivers going 11 mph over the speed limit 30 minutes prior to the start of classes and for 30 minutes after dismissal. The change will start Wednesday morning at 12:01 a.m.
Commissioners also voted for a more uniform school speed limit of 20 miles per hour. Manatee County said a specific date has not been determined for the uniform speed limit to go into effect, but they will begin developing a plan for new speed limit signs to go up.
"Nobody goes out of their way to speed in a school zone," Manatee County Commissioner Tal Siddique said. "I think most people go through a school zone, they slow down, and we obviously want to catch the bad actors and I think we are."
The Source: The information in this story was gathered during a Manatee County Commission meeting.
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