The city of Orlando is putting drivers on notice: speed in an active school zone and you’ll be cited and pay a $100 fine.
Beginning Monday, a 45-day warning period was activated for the city’s new school zone speed camera program. Starting Nov. 30, drivers caught exceeding a school zone speed limit by more than 10 mph will be ticketed and fined. If it’s not paid on time, the $100 fine will increase.
Details for drivers
The school zone speed cameras are positioned at 20 schools, and will be active during the school day and designated school zone hours, when the road’s regular speed limit is reduced.
Those school zone hours vary somewhat, depending on each school’s bell schedule, according to the city. Generally, the school zones are active during arrival and dismissal periods.
Cameras will remain active throughout the school day, when they’ll enforce regularly-posted speed limits. During school zone hours, the reduced speed limit of either 15 or 20 mph will be enforced, subjecting drivers to citations if they exceed that reduced speed limit by more than 10 mph.
The 20 school zones with speed cameras were selected based on a city study that found more than half of all drivers in those zones were speeding during school hours, according to the city’s Safe Mobility Manager Laura Hardwicke. She said addressing driver speed is key for reducing pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
“If we can slow folks down, they can be more aware of their surroundings. Your stopping distance is shorter. You can react to things like kids jumping into the roadway better,” Hardwicke said.
The school zone speed cameras are not automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, Hardwicke said.
“These are just high-tech digital cameras that will snap a picture when a violation occurs,” Hardwicke said. “They take a picture of the beacon that's flashing that shows that the school zone is active, and then they take a picture of the vehicle with the license plate, so that a notice of violation can be issued.”
The decision to issue a ticket won’t be made by software alone, Hardwicke said. Traffic enforcement officers with the Orlando Police Department will make that call, after reviewing images captured by the cameras.
A step toward safer streets for pedestrians
Nationally and statewide, pedestrian death rates are rising, according to an analysis published earlier this year by Smart Growth America. Florida remains one of the deadliest states for pedestrians, coming in at No. 5 nationwide.
But the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metropolitan area is one of just a handful of large metros trending in the opposite direction. Between 2020 and 2024, Orlando saw one of the largest reductions in five-year pedestrian fatality rates, compared to 100 other large metros analyzed by the policy group.
RELATED: Pedestrian deaths are down in Orlando. But nationally, they’re rising
As recently as the group’s 2024 report, Orlando ranked among the country’s top 20 deadliest metro areas for pedestrians. This year, it dropped down to 25.
“We still have a lot of work to do, and that's why programs like the school zone automated enforcement are so important,” Hardwicke said.
Where are the cameras?
The city’s new school zone speed cameras are located at the following 20 schools:
- Innovation Middle School - Storey Park Boulevard
- Laureate Park Elementary School - Laureate Boulevard
- Odyssey Middle School - Lee Vista Boulevard
- Vista Pointe Elementary School - Market Place Drive
- Vista Lakes Elementary School - South Chickasaw Trail
- Dover Shores Elementary School - Gaston Foster Road and FL-15 (near Inter Larado Place and Conway Road)
- Engelwood Elementary School - La Costa Drive
- Eagle's Nest Elementary School - MetroWest Boulevard
- Roberto Clemente Middle School - Roberto Clemente Road
- Audubon Park K-8 School - Corrine Drive
- Lake Silver Elementary School - North Rio Grande Avenue
- College Park Middle School - Maury Road
- Blankner K-8 School - South Mills Avenue
- Boone High School - South Mills Avenue
- Millenia Gardens Elementary School - Millenia Boulevard
- Lake Como K-8 School - East Gore Street and South Bumby Avenue
- Rock Lake Elementary School - North Tampa Avenue
- Sun Blaze Elementary School - Randal Park Boulevard
- MetroWest Elementary School - Lake Vilma Drive
- Westpointe Elementary School - Lake Vilma Drive
This Wednesday night, the city will host an open house for members of the public to share input about FORWARD Orlando, an initiative that includes the creation of a Pedestrian Facilities Plan and a five-year update to the city’s Vision Zero plan. That Vision Zero plan is based on the city’s goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries on Orlando streets by 2040.
The open house will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Callahan Neighborhood Center on North Parramore Avenue.
