KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — The Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office announced a 30-day warning period for a new school zone speed camera and bus stop arm camera program.
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — The Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office announced a 30-day warning period for a new school zone speed camera and bus stop arm camera program.
The 30-day warning period began on October 21, 2014, and will end on November 21, 2014. The school zone speed cameras, which are installed in marked vehicles that will be parked in the enforcement zones each day, will issue warning notices to the vehicle’s registered owner during the 30-day warning period but no fine will be assessed.
School zone speed cameras will operate during the morning and afternoon hours on school days to capture images of vehicles traveling in excess of six miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit. The fine amount for speeding in school zones will be $150.
Bus stop arm cameras will be installed soon in at least 10 school buses across the county. The cameras will activate when the bus stop arm is deployed and will capture an image of the vehicle’s license plate and a brief video clip of the violation. There will be a $350 fine if you pass a school bus with its stop arm deployed.
“Ultimately our deputies will approve and issue each and every violation to decide whether or not a violation should be issued to the vehicle owner. This program will be 100 percent funded by individuals who speed in school zones and pass a stopped school bus stop arm,” stated Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Rodney Evans in a press release.
The school zone speed cameras will monitor the following schools:
220 Texas 274 at Kemp High School
1000 Tolosa Rd at Kemp Jr. High School
600-800 S Elm St at Kemp Elementary
3701 S Houston St at Kaufman High School/Norman Junior High School
9511 Silver Creek Dr at Scurry-Rosser Elementary
10729 SH34 at Scurry- Rosser Middle School
800 Farm to Market Rd at Forney High School
701 Town N Dr at Terrell High School
121 Poetry Rd at Wood Elementary
1351 Colquitt Rd at Furlough Middle School
1750 Iron Gate Blvd at Smith Elementary
“Speeding in school zones and stop arm running are dangerous behaviors that needlessly put our children at risk,” Sheriff David Byrnes said. “The intent of these programs is to make sure drivers stop for the school bus stop arm and reduce their speed in school zones. These safety programs will help protect our children in high-traffic school zones and keep them safe as they travel to and from school in Kaufman County.”
According to American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the company contracted to provide the camera equipment through the county, “more than 99 percent of the drivers who receive a school bus stop arm violation from a CrossingGuard® camera, have not received a second. This high rate of compliance indicates a positive change in driver behavior.”
“We believe these are two very important programs that will make our children safer. It will perhaps save lives but, more importantly, it will cause people to remember that they are going through a school zone or passing a school bus,” Kaufman County Judge Bruce Wood stated in a Wednesday press conference at the county courthouse.
The Kaufman County Commissioners’s Court approved the contract with ATS in April with a two-three split vote with Commissioners Ray Clark, Tom Manning, and Judge Wood voting for the measure and Commissioners Kenneth Schoen and Jimmy Vrzalik against the measure.
During the April meeting and a September meeting to approve regulations to make the violations an enforceable civil offense, the discussion often mentioned the death of a 7-year-old boy on State Highway 34 just south of Kaufman. The boy, a Kaufman ISD student, was struck and killed on January 6, 2011, by a motorist who allegedly disregarded a school bus stop arm.
Opponents of the contract cited concerns about fines assessed to the county in the event the school bus stop arm cameras don’t meet a quota. ATS is paid a percentage of each citation issued depending on the average citation issued per month.
ATS’s Senior Vice President of Communications Charles Territo addressed those concerns with inForney.com by stating “To begin with, the contract is being misquoted here; it does not use the word ‘fine.’”
“This pricing option is contingent upon detection of an average of at least .75 violations per day per bus. If the average number of violations detected falls below .75 in any given month averaged across all installed buses, Customer [Kaufman County] shall pay ATS a flat fee of $50.00 per School Bus Camera per school day,” Territo stated.
“More importantly, this provision provides the county with an opportunity to pay a smaller fee to ATS in the event violations decrease,” he said.
“Here is how the county is protected,” Territo continued. “If cameras are installed on 10 buses and operate for 20 school days in a given month, and if 140 violations occur during that time period (an average of 0.70 violations per bus per day), the county would pay ATS $10,000 for that month (10 buses X $50 X 20 days) and would retain $39,000. Without the .75 protection, the county would pay ATS 50% of the revenue (which would be $24,500), saving the county $14,500 for that month.”
At Wednesday’s press conference, Judge Wood said it wasn’t about writing citations and making money but about the safety of the county’s school children.
