FAIRFIELD – With school starting, Fairfield’s school zone speed cameras will once again be enforcing a 20-mile-per-hour speed limit during certain hours beginning on Tuesday.
Automated enforcement will once again be triggered by the lower speeds in six school zones in town during designated morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up periods.
Drop-off and pick-up times are specific for each school, and more information can be found on the town’s designated speed camera website.
Outside of those designated hours, the regular posted speed limit – either 25 or 30 mph, depending on the area – will apply.
When a vehicle is traveling 11 mph or faster above the posted limit, the town’s speed cameras will capture the vehicles’s license plate for review and a potential ticket.
First Selectperson Christine Vitale’s office argues the cameras are intended to reduce to speeds during periods when students, families, pedestrians, and school buses are most active around schools, but all speed enforcement remains in effect 24 hours a day.
“As we welcome students and staff back to school, I want to thank drivers for slowing down in our school zones,” Vitale said in a news release.
Data through the end of July shows speeding incidents in the town’s six school zones with cameras have declined by 88%, from nearly 6,500 per day during the initial week of operation to 762 per day, Vitale said.
“The data is showing that the speed safety camera is doing what it was built to do, improve safety in school zones by reducing speeding and increasing driver awareness,” Vitale said. “Let’s keep the positive momentum going.”
The school zones in Fairfield were selected for the cameras based on crash history, engineering analysis, and feedback from the community, according to Vitale’s office.
All enforcement zones are marked with sinage to notify drivers of cameras monitoring the area, as is required by state law, and the town is in the process of installing painted pavement markings as another way to notify motorists that they are entering a school zone, according to Vitale’s office.
Drivers are encouraged to slow down, remain alert, focus on the road, and be particularly mindful of children crossing the streets, walking or biking to school, and entering and exiting vehicles.
Parents of students are asked to review safety guidelines with their children, including standing six to 10 feet back from school buses, walking against traffic, and riding with traffic.
The issue of speed cameras has been a divisive issue in town, with many residents arguing they are an invasion of privacy, and others supporting them in an effort to keep students and others safe on Fairfield roads.
Last week, members of the Representative Town Meeting voted to stick to its speed camera plan despite public criticism. The decision to recommit to Fairfield’s speed camera plan drew some jeers from residents who denounced the cameras for almost four hours.
The RTM ultimately voted 25-12 to keep the plan and not amend it.
However, members voted to create an ordinance drafting committee to oversee and potentially modify the current speed camera ordinance.
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This article originally published at Fairfield school zone cameras to reinstate 20 mph speed limit as school starts.
