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The "grace period" officially ended earlier this week for speeders past John Milledge Academy on Log Cabin Road, and $75 citations are now being mailed out.
Based on the early data, at least, the program seems to be working. A total of 83 speeding infractions/citations were recorded during the first four days of the "enforcement phase" this week. Compare that to the first four days of the grace period last month, when 229 instances of speeding (at least 11 miles over the speed limit) were documented.
In other words, speeding past JMA has been reduced by 64 percent, when comparing the first four days of the program last month to the most recent four days of the program this week.
"Contrary to what some may believe, this isn't a money grab, and this is actually a public safety program," said Maj. Scott Deason with the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office. "We are obviously very pleased with the results so far."
The JMA program is the third Redspeed initiative in Milledgeville-Baldwin County, joining the one on South Elbert Street near Georgia Military College, as well as the one on Ga. 49 in front of Baldwin High. The JMA/Log Cabin safety initiative is being overseen by the Sheriff's Office, while the other two were launched by the Milledgeville Police Department.
The cameras below JMA will only be turned on during school days and not on the weekends and school holidays and breaks. Between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. each school day, the speed limit will be 25 miles per hour, and the "trigger speed" for the Redspeed cameras will be 36 mph. The speed limit then rises to 45 miles per hour with a "trigger speed" of 56 until 2:30 in the afternoon, when the speed limit once again is reduced to 25.
For those who may not be completely familiar with the Redspeed program, here is some more information in a nifty question-and-answer form:
- QUESTION: What does the Sheriff's Office get out of it?
- ANSWER: The revenue split is 65 percent for the BCSO and 35 percent for RedSpeed, the company that’s partnering with the city and handling all of the equipment and operations. The revenue for the BCSO “can only be spend on new police equipment or for school safety programs." This, theoretically, would include school assemblies focusing on driving safety and other brochures and literature.
- QUESTION: Will a citation impact my driver’s license?
- ANSWER: The RedSpeed citations will not cause drivers “to lose points on their licenses,” Milledgeville Police Department Chief Dray Swicord previously told Baldwin2k News. “It’s simply a civil summons against the owner of the vehicle,” he added
- QUESTION: So, why pay the ticket if it doesn't take points off of my license?
- ANSWER: Although drivers and vehicle owners will not lose their licenses for refusing to pay any RedSpeed tickets, they won’t be able to renew their vehicle tags at the Tax Commissioner’s Office, Swicord said.
- QUESTION: What if someone else was driving my car?
- ANSWER: The speeding citation/summons will be issued against the owner of the vehicle caught on camera and not the actual driver. So, if a family member or someone else was borrowing your car and was caught speeding on camera, “that’s up for the vehicle owner and whoever else was involved to figure out how to pay,” said Swicord.
