(The Center Square) – State Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, called traffic cameras in Georgia school zones a “money grab” by local governments that have nothing to do with safety.
House Bill 225 would ban the cameras. Washburn told the House Motor Vehicles Committee on Tuesday that at least one government is making millions off tickets written from the cameras.
Macon-Bibb County Government has collected $6.5 million since the implementation of the cameras, according to Washburn. The company operating the camera had made $1 million.
The General Assembly passed a bill allowing the school-zone cameras in 2018.
“I’m sure that bill was well-intentioned at the time but over the years since it was passed and implemented, it has not done what it was apparently designed to,” Washburn told the committee. “And what it is doing is raking in millions and millions of dollars for local governments and for the camera companies that operate them.”
But that’s not always the case, some told the committee.
Decatur implemented the cameras in November after holding public information sessions and writing probationary tickets to anyone caught going 10 miles over the speed limit in a school zone. The city has a 92% decrease in violations, Decatur Police Chief Scott Richards told the committee.
Valdosta officials implemented the cameras at three out of five elementary schools, and it has only generated $92,000 in revenue, Valdosta City Councilman Andy Gibbs told the committee. Sixty percent of the revenue generated goes to public safety, Gibbs said.
Bob Dallas, director at Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety from 2003 to 2011, said he agrees that flashing lights and more signs are needed near the cameras, but he supports them.
“I have not seen anything work as well as speeding cameras and the program with them than this,” Dallas said.
He told the committee he works as a consultant with one of the camera companies.
Washburn said he received a ticket because of one of the cameras, but that’s not why he was sponsoring the bill. More than 100 legislators have joined him as a cosigner, indicating a problem across the state, he said.
“I am not seeking to mend this not mend it,” Washburn said of the school zone cameras.
The committee advanced the bill.
The committee will take up another bill Friday addressing fines recorded by cameras at school bus stops. The General Assembly passed a bill in 2024 that implemented a $1,000 civil penalty if a motorist doesn’t stop when a bus has a signal indicating children are loading and unloading.
“To a lot of people, $1,000 is a lot of money,” said Rep. Don Parsons, R-Marietta, the bill’s sponsor. “One thousand dollars can be enough that somebody can’t put food on their table for their children, or pay their rent or pay their car payment.”
Parsons’ bill would reduce the fine to $300 for the first offense, $500 for the second offense and $1,000 for the third offense. The committee will discuss other options on Friday, including a flat $500 fine.
