People have been up in arms in one Gwinnett County city over the addition of new school zone speed cameras that have issued more than 25,000 tickets since February.

Snellville’s city council approved the cameras last year and the city gets 65 percent of the revenue. The company RedSpeed operates them.

Cameras have been placed on Main Street in front of South Gwinnett High School, Pate Road in front of Snellville Middle School, and Skyland Drive in front of Britt Elementary.

Lt. Zach Spahr, who is over the Snellville Police Department’s traffic unit, says a state law was passed in 2018 that allows use of the cameras that detect speed. Different from your typical school zones where flashing lights alert drivers in the mornings and afternoons, these run a span of eight to nine hours during school days only.

“The cameras run from one hour before the first bell until one hour after last bell,” he tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.

Snellville joins other Gwinnett cities, including Duluth and Lilburn, that have begun using the cameras in an effort to slow speeds in school zones.

The tickets carry a civil penalty of $80 on the first offense and $130 on subsequent offenses. No points are assessed against the license but can prevent the renewal of the vehicle’s tag.

“Anybody traveling 11 miles per hour over the posted speed limit at the time would be issued a notice,” says Spahr.

He points out that the speed limit on Main Street is always 35, regardless of whether school is in session or not.

Cathy Henry, who used to live in Gwinnett but moved to Oconee County several years ago, got one in February on Main Street on a return visit to Gwinnett.

“I was going apparently 47, that’s what the paperwork said, in a 35. I clearly was speeding. I thought the speed limit was 45, but that’s no excuse,” she says.

But when she received the ticket, it had her husband’s name on it because he is the registered owner the vehicle.

“That’s kind of weird that they can give a ticket to a car and not even to a human. I could have loaned that car to a next-door neighbor. They don’t know,” says Henry.

Spahr says for anyone who receives a citation but was not driving during that time, information is located on the back of the ticket to direct them how to appeal it in court.

“If a person swears an affidavit in court that they were not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the violation, then that citation is dismissed,” he says.

An officer reviews each photo taken of the vehicle’s license plate and decides whether a ticket is warranted. So far, 31,000 have been tossed for various reasons.

Henry’s husband paid her citation not knowing he could appeal. But she believes safety isn’t the ultimate reason behind the cameras.

“I think it might be a little bit of a money-grab,” she says.

Similar complaints have been made by others on social media.

Spahr counters that as word gets out, citations should decrease.

“Once a person gets a notice, they tend not to speed in that area anymore. And if we can reduce the speeding violations in our school zones, then that’s what we’re going for,” he says.

Cox Media Group