EATONVILLE, Fla. – Eatonville is considering adding cameras to school zones to enhance safety.
According to the proposed ordinance, the Eatonville Police Department has provided the town council with data showing that cars frequently exceed the speed limit in school zones. Parents have also expressed their concerns about the issue.
“The cars, they do speed. They go pretty quickly, and it’s not safe for the kids,” Antawnia Brooks, a mother of three, said. “It’s a lot of kids that walk between the Boys and Girls Club, as well as getting off the buses, the middle schoolers.”
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Brooks finds it unbelievable how dangerously drivers speed by Hungerford Elementary School.
“It’s not safe. I’ve seen children trying to cross the road, but because of the cars coming fast, they can’t cross the road, and then they don’t have a guardian or a parent with them,” she said.
Tonight, the town council will discuss possibly adding cameras in the school zone to improve safety.
“I think it’s needed, and whenever they have that, they’ll definitely think twice about speeding in an area like this,” Brooks said.
Cameras are already in place at other Central Florida schools, such as those in Osceola County. Initially, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office issued over 14,000 warnings. When the warnings transitioned to $100 citations, the number of violations dropped to around 5,500.
Parents are eager to see similar changes in Eatonville if the cameras are installed.
“Just the safety. The comfort of knowing that somebody is watching. I can’t watch the whole street everywhere. But somebody is watching, you know?” parent Ebonie Ellis said.
The proposed cameras would capture drivers exceeding the speed limit by 10 miles per hour during school hours.
The town plans to use the revenue from the $100 fines to support its school crossing guard recruitment and retention program.