Technology reduces tragedy due to speeding in school zones | Opinion

In Florida, we take pride in coming together to keep our students safe. Yet too often, drivers speed around our schools, barreling down the very roads our children cross every day. One reckless decision around a school can change a family forever. Strong and consistent enforcement of speed limits around our schools is not optional, it is essential.

There are more than 30,000 students in Okaloosa County Schools on any given day. Every single one of those children deserves to arrive safely in the morning and return home safely in the afternoon.

Ideally, we could station officers outside every school, all day, every day for traffic safety. But the hard truth is that law enforcement cannot be everywhere at once. We have limited personnel and must respond to emergencies and calls for service across our community.

That is where technology becomes part of the solution.

Speed safety cameras around schools help enforce the law, change driving behavior and prevent tragic crashes. In 2023, the Florida Legislature passed HB 657, authorizing the use of school zone speed detection systems. Communities were given a powerful tool to close a public safety gap and better protect children. That action deserves recognition. Our legislators saw a problem and acted decisively.

Technology does not replace law enforcement; it extends our reach. It allows consistent enforcement even when officers are called elsewhere.

School zone safety cameras are doing exactly what they are designed to do: slow drivers down and save lives. Speed directly determines whether someone survives a crash. A pedestrian struck at 20 miles per hour has a dramatically higher chance of survival than one struck at 40 miles per hour.

A 2024 traffic study in Fort Walton Beach found drivers exceeding the school zone limit by as much as 60 miles per hour on active school days. Since cameras were installed, speeding violations have dropped by 95 percent. Even more importantly, fewer than 10 percent of drivers who receive a violation become repeat offenders. That means behavior is changing and that is the goal. Accountability will lead behavior changes and prevention.

The program is also structured responsibly. For every $100 violation, nearly $80 is reinvested into public safety initiatives including law enforcement training and recruitment, enhanced school safety efforts and additional crossing guards. The remainder supports the technology, installation, verification and public awareness necessary to operate the program. No taxpayer dollars fund this effort. Only those who choose to violate the law pay into the system.

As chief of police, my responsibility is simple: Protect this community, protect our children and prevent tragedy before it occurs.

We cannot station an officer at every school every minute of every day for traffic safety. But with the right tools and responsible safeguards, we can ensure that every school has accountability when it comes to traffic safety. We can ensure that the laws designed to protect children are enforced consistently and fairly.

Our children deserve nothing less.

Chief Robert Bage serves as the Chief of Police for the City of Fort Walton Beach. He also serves as the president of the Florida Police Chiefs Association.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Technology reduces tragedy due to speeding in school zones | Opinion