Miami Beach planning school speed detectors

An ordinance is to be drafted by the Miami Beach city administration to move forward with installation and operation of speed detection systems in six school zones in the city.

The action follows Miami-Dade County legislation last fall that authorized speed detection systems in 206 school zones in the county’s unincorporated areas.

In 2023, Florida passed a statute focused on speed detection systems, enabling the local actions.

The Legislature, said Miami Beach Commissioner Alex J. Fernandez, gave local governments “the authority to enforce school zones through the use of speed detection systems. In essence, they’re cameras that monitor the speed of drivers and allow us to do enforcement using technology where we should be most proactive about this, which is in our school zones.”

The state legislation, Commissioner Fernandez said, “requires us in order to do this to adopt an ordinance for the placement of these devices and to identify the location where these systems would go.”

In June 2023, the administration was directed to evaluate school zones, said Commissioner Fernandez. A police evaluation pinpointed six potential school zones in which to install the systems.

“New Florida statute that has been enacted allows … for cities or counties to install speed detection devices or speed cameras or to contract with a vendor to install speed cameras at school zones where speeding is occurring, and that meet certain criteria,” said Jose Gonzalez, city transportation and mobility director. “So following the Florida statute and the recent resolution that was adopted, we conducted a traffic analysis that looked at 17 different school zones in the city associated with eight different schools…. We had to wait for [the] school session to begin in order to conduct that analysis, which we did, and what the study concluded was that six different school zones associated with five schools meet the criteria and warrant the installation of speed detection systems or speed cameras.”

“The Florida statute also requires that the governmental entity adopt an ordinance that would allow this type of program in the city,” Mr. Gonzalez said, “so that would be the natural next step should this body wish to move forward with the installation of speed cameras in the schools in our city that have speeding. Then there would need to be an ordinance created, and following that ordinance the city would then contract with a vendor for the installation of the cameras.”

Florida school speed zones have minimum speed limits of 15 miles per hour and a maximum of 20 during posted hours when children are likely to be present. The fine for exceeding the limit starts at $50 for speeds up to nine miles above the limit and rise as high as $300 as the excess speed increases.

Commissioner Fernandez made a motion to direct “the city administration at the city attorney’s office to work on a draft ordinance to bring forward to us and take whatever other action we need to do to move forward with this technology.” The motion passed by acclamation.

“I think this is one of these things that we can do that I believe is a no-brainer,” said Commissioner Fernandez. “Anything that we can do to help make our children safer, our school zones safer, but also it makes our communities safer, because these schools are also either within residential areas or in the perimeter of residential areas.”