New Florida legislation allowing school zone speed cameras will help save lives and keep our kids safer

We know that school zone speed camera solutions save lives. A pedestrian who is struck by a vehicle traveling at 30 mph is twice as likely to be killed as a pedestrian struck by a vehicle at 25 mph. In 2019, 296 children in the US were injured as pedestrians in motor vehicle crashes every week – 7 of them fatally.

Jenoptik recently conducted a study of over 25,000 cars at Palm Beach County schools which showed that the majority (>70 %) of drivers are speeding (over 20 mph) during morning drop off and afternoon pick up. Over 30% of these speed limit violators were even exceeding 30 mph.

“As global industry experts in traffic monitoring we have continually shown our whole hearted support for automated speed enforcement in school zone legislation, especially in our home state of Florida, and are thrilled for the passing of HB 657. This will enable us to enhance safety in school zones with our proven speed camera technologies, all locally designed, manufactured and serviced in-house, that help modify driver behavior to ensure our school zones remain safe for children and deliver peace of mind for parents,” says Dorian Grubaugh, VP Sales and retired police Sergeant.

“From equipping the first police cars with mobile cameras in 1955, to inventing automatic license plate technology (ALPR) in 1979, we have an in-depth understanding on how best to design, develop, deploy and maintain these types of technologies, as well as the legislative hurdles involved,” stated Finbarr O’Carroll, President of Jenoptik’s Smart Mobility Solutions division in the Americas. “Furthermore, with 150 employees at our US headquarters located in Jupiter Florida, we are ideally positioned to support this legislation and camera roll out across Florida.”

About Jenoptik’s Smart Mobility Solutions division

Jenoptik’s Smart Mobility Solutions division provides photonics-based, innovative and sustainable solutions, including technology and services for Road Safety, Public Security and Road User Charging. Our customers include local and governmental authorities, police and enforcement agencies, as well as public and private organizations.

As pioneers of sensor-based road safety cameras and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR/ALPR), Traffic Law Enforcement and ANPR technology is at the core of our product portfolio. Our solutions cover a wide range of stationary and mobile applications such as vehicle monitoring and classification, average and spot speed, red-light enforcement including additional features, civil security, as well as road user charging and emission control, using video analytics and artificial intelligence.

With over 4,000 cameras installed across the US and 30,000 cameras worldwide, our strong global presence and installation base is supported by a reliable partner network. With innovation as our driving force, Jenoptik is a world-leading enabler for smart mobility, with intelligent solutions and services constantly evolving to help make roads, journeys, communities and our environment safer around the globe.