Automated Enforcement Of School Zones Begins In Canton

CANTON, GA — Starting Monday, March 29, the City of Canton Police Department will begin a 30-day warning period to notify and help drivers adjust to automated enforcement of school zones.

The initial school zone camera is installed at Hasty Elementary, on East Main Street, and Brown Industrial Parkway. During the warning period, the city will be mailing warning notices to the registered owners. New signage alerting drivers of the stepped-up enforcement has already been installed.

Cherokee High School and Teasley Middle School are in the process of Georgia Department of Transportation approval for the same program.

The program was instituted after a nationwide spike in pedestrian fatalities over the past decade in which Georgia became one of the five deadliest states for pedestrians, with the seventh-highest fatality rate. Also, the Canton Police Department conducted speed studies within all of its school zones, which produced over 3,000 speeding violations in a single day. Automated enforcement is endorsed as a safety tool by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, AAA, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and the National Safety Council.

Chief Stephen Merrifield hopes the cameras will reverse dangerous safety trends and encourage drivers to slow down.

We are hopeful that Automated Enforcement will encourage drivers to slow down and obey the law,” Merrifield said. “Traffic fatalities are the number one cause of death for children aged 5-14 and for young adults (aged 15-29). Very minimal reductions in speed make the roads a lot safer, especially for children.”

Numerous publications have documented how slower speeds can save lives. One definitive study by the AAA Foundation found that children and young adults have less than a 10 percent risk of serious injury or death in an accident at 15 mph, but the risks climbed substantially with each 5 mph increment. At 35 miles per hour, the risk of severe injury or death is greater than 50 percent.

The Canton program will target the most egregious speeders exceeding more than 11 miles per hour over the posted school zone speed limit in school zones. The cameras will operate from one hour before school begins until one hour after school ends, only on school days. A sworn officer reviews and approves each violation before a citation is issued. A 30-day warning period is in effect before any citations are issued.

The new program will be fully operational and issuing real citations on April 28. The city will be posting a frequently asked questions list to its website and will also be providing updates and answering questions on social media. Residents with questions may call the Canton Police Department at 770-720-4883.