OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Osceola County’s school zone speed cameras are not issuing tickets, for now, after concerns about their potential placement outside school zone boundaries.
Last spring, Osceola County joined the growing list of municipalities that activated speed cameras in school zones after a new state law took effect in 2023, allowing them to be used.
Since the program began in the county, 29,306 tickets have been sent to drivers caught going 10 mph over the speed limit in school zones. However, none are currently being issued as the camera locations are reviewed.
The program started issuing $100 citations from all 32 cameras last March, but the sheriff’s office stopped sending tickets last Thursday due to unclear compliance status.
[PREVIOUSLY: Osceola County to issue warnings for drivers caught on school zone speed cameras]
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office tells News 6 it paused the program following questions about whether all the cameras comply with Florida Department of Transportation guidelines.
FDOT released placement and installation specifications for school zone cameras in December 2023, but they were updated last July. In an email last week, St. Cloud Police asked FDOT about camera placement and FDOT confirmed cameras must be within school zones.
St. Cloud uses cameras from the same vendor as Osceola County, Verra Mobility. St. Cloud has also paused its speed camera program for the same reason as the county. A spokesperson tells News 6 that while the cameras are not issuing citations, it is still illegal to speed in school zones.
To maintain safety, the sheriff’s office has stationed deputies in school zones to deter speeding before and after school.
Parents hope that drivers do not use this as an opportunity to drive recklessly.
“Just because they’re not ticketing does not take away the fact that we need to be safe, and sometimes we need to maintain the safety and always think about the children or students that will be crossing back and forth. So, regardless of the fact they’re enforcing or not, safety is still important,” parent Orville Watson said.
Verra Mobility, the company that installed and operates the software for Osceola County and St. Cloud, sent News 6 the following statement regarding the pause.
Verra Mobility’s priority is to work closely with the communities we serve to ensure our programs are effective and in accordance with the law. We collaborated with Osceola County on camera locations and remain confident that the placement complies with statutory requirements, capturing violations that occur within the designated school zone. We respect the County’s decision to temporarily pause enforcement and thoroughly review the matter; we will continue to work with the County during this process. Our goal is to continue improving safety for students and families in Osceola County and throughout Florida.
Verra Mobility
News 6 asked FDOT if it was working with the city and county to confirm compliance but we have not yet received a response. What will happen to the tickets that were already given out, and whether the cameras will need to be moved or not, is still unclear.
An Osceola County spokesperson said that the placement and/or moving of the cameras requires FDOT approval and that process is a deliberative one, which is not within the county’s purview alone.
The county also said it is “working with our partners FDOT, the Osceola Sheriff’s Office, the School District of Osceola, and other partners to ensure the safety of our students and residents in these locations.”
For more information on FDOT’s placement and installation specifications for school zone speed detection systems, click here.