THOMASVILLE — Fewer Thomasville drivers are getting issued tickets by cameras in school zones, Thomasville Police Chief John Letteney told city council members Wednesday.

Chief Letteney said the number of local drivers getting citations for going over the speed limit in school zones is down to about 36%, after being at more than 50% when the cameras went into effect.

“That has steadily gone down since the program was put in place in October,” he said of the tickets issued to local drivers. “People are learning. They are understanding the system and they are slowing down.”

The fines from the cameras are $75 for the first offense and $125 for the second offense.  

“We’ve had instances where someone has had eight or nine or more,” Chief Letteney said.

Council member Wanda Warren said she has fielded a lot of questions about the cameras, and many said they did not know those cameras would be on 24 hours a day.

“I’ve had a lot, a lot of calls from people getting tickets in school zones,” she said. 

The cameras operate 24 hours a day, but citations for speeding are issued only during the school day, the chief said. Citations are not issued when school is not in session, such as weekends, holidays or summer vacation.

“The cameras are on 24 hours a day,” the chief said, “but it is not writing tickets 24 hours a day.”

Council member David Hufstetler said he liked having the cameras on for 24 hours. As an example, he said if his business is broken into, the cameras may catch the perpetrator going down East Jackson Street.

As Hufstetler pointed out, the citations from the cameras do not go to the driver’s insurance carrier and neither do they result in points on the license.

“If an officer were to stop that person for going that same speed,” the chief said, “there would be points and it could have an insurance impact as well.”

The speeds in school zones drop to 25 mph in the morning and afternoons and return to 35 mph for the remainder of the day. Drivers aren’t ticketed for going a few miles per hour over the limit, Letteney and Hufstetler said. But if a driver is going 11 mph or more, that’s when the citations are activated.

Chief Letteney said the state requirements on school speed zones are strict. The police department has to follow rigid provisions to make sure the cameras are placed properly.

“All that has been done,’” the chief said.

The chief also said his support services lieutenant has been reviewing as many as 200 citations a morning from the cameras. Each citation has to be validated by an officer before it is sent out to a motorist. 

“Our hope was that the word would get out and violations would go down,” he said. “We’re fielding questions every day.”

Council member Todd Mobley said in his travels across the state this summer, he has noticed how prevalent the school speed zone cameras have become. There are five in the city of Thomasville.

“You would be amazed at the number of these cameras that are going up,” he said. “Almost every (location) we go to has the camera. There are quite a few school districts in Georgia that have these now.”

Letteney pointed out there was a 30-day period last fall to alert drivers the cameras were going into effect. The city, he said, has gone above and beyond what the state requires in providing notice to drivers they are entering a camera-enforced school speed zone.

“We have looked at every school zone for proper signage and we have given proper notice to drivers,” he said. “We exceed the state requirement by several signs. There is more than adequate notice to the motoring public.”

Maintenance and validation measures also are in place for each of the cameras, Chief Letteney pointed out.

“If it’s not accurate,” he said, “that camera will be shut off.”  

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.