Eustis became the first Florida city to install speed cameras in a school zone, after speeding became so bad that Police Chief Craig Capri feared for the safety of the students. Some drivers were seen tearing through the school zone at speeds of up to 80mph. At first, the cameras only issued warnings, with a staggering 800 of them being mailed out. Now, the cameras have been active and issuing $100 tickets for over two months, and the police chief got quite a surprise. Instead of the tickets resulting in a decrease in speeding incidents, they haven’t seemed to have made any difference. Even after 1,300 citations have been issued in a 5-week period, drivers are still being caught driving through the area at an average of 40mph, which is 25mph over the 15mph speed limit. Even elected officials have been fined for speeding through the school zone, something that’s even more of an embarrassment for Chief Capri. He is not, however, giving up. Instead, he has pledged to spend the revenue generated by the speeding tickets to hiring cross guards and installing cameras in two other school zones.
