HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Florida ranked second to last on the issue of dangerous drivers in school zones, according to a 2018 study by Zendrive.

The same study also found that Hillsborough County ranked 60thout of the state’s 67 counties when it comes to unsafe drivers near schools.

What You Need To Know

  • A legislative proposal to install speed detection systems in school zones is being sponsored by Republican Ana Maria Rodriguez in the Senate and Democrat Nick Duran in the House

  • The Senate version did not move in the Legislature in this past year’s session, but has already passed through one committee going into the 2022 session

  • A 2018 study showed that Florida was 50thin the nation when it comes to dangerous drivers around schools

Those statistics trouble Norma Maiz, who who walks her son Pablo to and from Grady Elementary School in South Tampa every weekday.

“Why wouldn’t you do something to prevent this from happening?” Maiz asked as she walked Pablo and his friend home from school earlier this week. “I mean, the goal here is to reduce deaths or accidents…but we also want to do anything to reducing anything that causes car crashes.” 

Deterrence could be on the way in the form of a legislative proposal introduced in the Florida Legislature for the coming session. The bipartisan backed bill (SB 410) would allow local governments the option to install speed cameras in their school zones. Driver could face fines up to $158 if they were found to go more than 10 miles per hour above the speed limit, with enforcement beginning an hour before class until an hour after.

The revenue from the fines would be distributed as such: $60 would go to the General Revenue Fund; $84 would be retained by the local govt. and used to administer speed detection systems in school zones; $4 would go to the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement’s Criminal Justice Standards and Training Trust Fund; $6 would go to the public school district in which the violation occurred used for school security initiatives or to improve the safety of student walking conditions; and $4 would be deposited to the Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program.

The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Education Committee last week, but a couple of legislators expressed skepticism.

“I get the purpose, trying to mitigate auto accidents in a school zone,” said Miami-Dade County Republican Manny Diaz. “I’m going to support your bill today, even though I have major concerns about cameras and automated devices.”

The proposed legislation calls for the penalties assessed by the local government to be sent to the state’s Dept. of Revenue.  Palm Coast Republican Travis Hutson suggested that those revenues collected go directly to the local school board instead. 

Sen. Rodriguez said that she would “entertain” the idea, emphasizing that there would be a 30-day education period to inform the public about the new law if it were to go into effect.

 

 

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