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School zone enforcement cameras in South Fulton
City officials say the controversial cameras have contributed to the recent decrease in the number of speeding citations issued in school zones.
SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - Officials in South Fulton launched the Ren'gia Majors School Zone Safety Program in 2019. The initiative was named for the 11-year-old Sandtown Middle School student who was killed in a car accident in front of the school in February of that year, when a speeding vehicle struck the car she was riding in.
South Fulton installed speed enforcement cameras in each of its 16 school districts to get drivers to slow down in school zones.
Mayor Pro Tem Helen Zenobia Willis sponsored the legislation, "We were getting frequent complaints that people were speeding through our school zones. We didn't have the resources to put public safety officers at each school zone so we used technology," said Willis.
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School zone cameras
A new push to put school zone cameras up around Atlanta Public Schools.
According to city officials that technology has accounted for an 82 percent drop in the number of speeding citations issued during the first five months of the current school year. Eight of the 10 active zones saw drops of at least 75 percent. Overall traffic through school zones declined by 18 percent, or just over 25,000 vehicles during the same period.
Willis says the numbers plainly show the city's school zones and children are safer because of the cameras.
"The whole point of this is to keep our schools safe. We don't want another tragedy like Ren'gia Majors," said Willis.
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