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Both the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would address the use of school zone speed detection devices. House Bill 225, by Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, would ban school zone speed cameras and would repeal House Bill 978 which passed in 2018 and allowed for the use of cameras in school zones. Senate Bill 75, by Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania, puts limited guardrails around the use of speed zone devices.
“It is time to do the right thing and ban these cameras,” said Washburn, who introduced his bill late last week. “While these cameras may have originally been enacted with good intent, the results have shown they do not make school zones any safer. They do not enhance public safety. Instead, they have created an avenue for local governments and out-of-state companies to generate millions of dollars at the expense of everyday Georgians.
“We gave these cameras a chance, and the data has shown they do not do their job. I am grateful to my colleagues in the House who have co-sponsored this legislation, with 100 representatives supporting it. That is more than half of the members of the House,” Washburn added.
HB 225 has been assigned to the Motor Vehicles committee, which has a hearing this morning. However, this bill is not yet listed on the agenda.
The Senate Public Safety Committee held a hearing on Burns’ SB75 Monday afternoon; however, no vote was taken. Committee Chair Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, said the committee is working to make some changes on this bill before a vote is taken.
“This is common sense legislation that deals with school zone speed cameras,” said Burns. “The most important thing we can do is to protect the school children, and this bill does that without using the device to generate funds. This bill puts the focus on school safety but does not take advantage of the public.”
Under the proposed legislation, school zone speed detection devices would only be in operation for two hours at the beginning of the day and two hours at the end of the school day. It also calls for signage to be placed one-half mile prior to the school which shows the driver his current speed and again at one-quarter of a mile.