City warns 1,500 speeders with new cameras
The Martinsville Police Department (MPD) has issued more than 1,500 warnings for school zone speeding violations in the past two weeks.
Just one month ago, the city of Martinsville announced speed monitoring cameras in school zones were active throughout Martinsville. On Wednesday, the MPD announced that the new devices had tracked 1,500 vehicles exceeding the speed limit by 11 mph or more while children were near or crossing the road.
"We don't want to give tickets, but we do want to send a message to drivers that they need to slow down," said Martinsville Police Chief Rob Fincher. "We are just sending out warnings now so people will take notice, but in the future the ticket will involve a $100 civil penalty."
Fincher declined to disclose when the warnings would be replaced with fines, but said it would be "coming soon."
"The warning comes in the mail with a service through the city," Fincher said. "It will have the city logos, pictures, tag numbers and other data and say 'this is a warning.'"
The placement of the cameras was the result of a 2023 study that revealed a safety concern with a high amount of speeding through school zones and Fincher said when his department researched the effectiveness of the method, they learned that other localities were seeing up to a 90% reduction in violations.
Although similar results are hoped for in Martinsville, Fincher was surprised with the number of speeders that were tracked in the first 14 days.
"I was extremely shocked," said Fincher. "We're trying to advertise this with signs on the road and feedback signs that shows how fast you're going. We're giving everyone ample warning."
Fincher said even a few personal friends have admitted to him that "'you got me.' At first they were angry, but then they thought 'I'm the idiot for doing this,' and then they feel bad."
Warnings and fines will be issued to the registered owner of the vehicle and will not impact the vehicle owner's driving record, and if the owner wishes to dispute the matter, they may have to do so in court.
State law provides that a vehicle infraction, such as speeding, goes against the driver, who may or may not be the owner of the vehicle. They system that is in place does not determine the driver of the vehicle.
"We've tried putting police officers in school zones and I've even worked them myself before I became chief, but school lights are flashing for only about 30 minutes at a time and it takes at least 15 to 20 minutes for a police officer to write a ticket, one person at a time at multiple schools; that's a whole lot of manpower," said Fincher.
Armed with survival rates of pedestrians struck by oncoming vehicles at various speeds, Fincher said while someone struck by a vehicle going 20 mph had a 95% chance of survival, the rate drops to 55% at 30 mph and only 15% at 40 mph.
"There's no way to avoid this and it applies to everyone; businesses, Henry County workers, city employees, event police officers unless there is a situation involving a siren and lights," said Fincher. "We want everyone to reduce their speeds and improve safety for the kids."
Bill Wyatt (276) 591-7543
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