Roswell Approves Automated School Zone Enforcement

ROSWELL, GA — Speeding near Roswell schools will soon become more enforceable after the City Council approved an agreement Aug. 12 with RedSpeed to install automated speed detection cameras in select school zones within the city.

Roswell Police Department asked RedSpeed to conduct speed evaluations on six Roswell schools, including:

1. Hembree Springs Elementary School
2. Holcomb Bridge Middle School
3. Mountain Park Elementary School
4. Roswell High School
5. Sweet Apple Elementary School
6. Vickery Mill Elementary School

There is no financial impact to the City of Roswell for this program unless there is a violation of the agreement before the end of term. RedSpeed is a web-based violation processing system used by certified peace officers

The agreements states, "the city has the desire to use the Speed Photo Enforcement System to monitor and enforce school zone speed, and may, in the future, desire to monitor and enforce red light violations or other traffic movements and to issue citations for traffic violations."

Other parts of the agreement include:

• RedSpeed will install Speed Photo Enforcement Systems at several intersections, school zone areas or grade crossing approaches to be agreed upon between RedSpeed and the City of Roswell after completion of site analyses. In addition to any initial locations, the parties may agree from time to time to add to the quantities and locations where SPE Systems are installed and maintained.
• RedSpeed will operate each SPE System on a 24-hour basis, barring downtime for maintenance and normal servicing activities.
• RedSpeed shall provide the Certified Peace Officer with access to RedCheck, for the purposes of reviewing Violations Data within five days of the gathering of the Registered Vehicle Owner Information.
• The decision to issue Notice of Violation shall be the sole, unilateral and exclusive decision of the Certified Peace Officer consistent with state law.
• RedSpeed is authorized to charge, collect and retain fees associated with the electronic processing. Such fees shall not exceed $25 per violation. Such fee is paid by the violator. The City of Roswell will not receive any of said fees. The City of Roswell assumes no liability, responsibility, or control for said fee sought by RedSpeed.

Additionally, the city approved the first reading of a text amendment to the City of Roswell Code of Ordinances by adding Article 22. 9, Speed Monitoring Systems, to allow for enforcement using automated speed detection cameras consistent with state law.

The first reading of this ordinance was approved which will allow the City to establish and enact an automated traffic enforcement safety device program in School Zones. Fees for violating include a fine in the amount of $75 for a first violation and $125 for a second or any subsequent violation.

The agreement said, "Mayor and City Council finds that the number of serious traffic accidents and accident-related fatalities in Georgia have increased significantly in recent years. Driving in excess of the posted speed limit and disregarding traffic control devices within existing School Zones is a contributing factor of said accidents, deaths, and injuries."

There are currently 15 School Zones where school-related activity occurs within the corporate limits of the City located at:

1. 9250 Scott Road Roswell, GA 30076
2. 815 Hembree Road Roswell, GA 30076
3. 10200 Wooten Rd Roswell, GA 30076
4. 1400 Martin Road Roswell, GA 30076
5. 1550 Warsaw Rd Roswell, GA 30076
6. 11895 Mountain Park Rd Roswell, GA 30075
7. 9000 Eves Rd Roswell, GA 30076
8. 10525 Woodstock Rd Roswell, GA 30075
9. 12025 Etris Rd Roswell, GA 30075
10. 1201 Alpharetta St Roswell, GA 30075
11. 11290 Elkins Rd Roswell, GA 30076
12. 10700 Crabapple Rd Roswell, GA 30075
13. 2700 Holcomb Bridge Rd Alpharetta, GA 30022
14. 11595 King Rd Roswell, GA 30075
15. 9310 Scott Rd Roswell, GA 30076

"Studies show that Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices significantly reduce the number of speeding violations and crashes, and provides for traffic-calming," the report said. "Traditional enforcement requires police officers to follow and stop a violator in order to cite the violator. Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices provide safe and consistent enforcement at a reasonable cost, while allowing police officers to focus on other enforcement effort."