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Speed Cameras Installed In Howard County School Zones

HOWARD COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- Speeders beware. Starting Monday, cameras are monitoring drivers in Howard County school zones.

Jessica Kartalija explains the county is the latest to add speed cameras to its force.

Police in Howard County did speed studies in every school zone and they found that putting these speed cameras in these areas would slow down lead-footed drivers.

In Ellicott City, school is out and it's a race to get home. In an effort to put brakes on speeders, Howard County police are adding roaming cameras to 100 school zones.

"It's a matter of public safety," said Chief William McMahon, Howard County Police. "Getting people to slow down, particularly in school zones, is important to us in trying to save lives."

Drivers caught going 12 miles over the limit will be issued a warning. After a 30 day warning period, drivers caught going over the speed limit again will be issued a $40 fine.

"I've seen many parents and even non-parents speeding by the schools so I think it's great," said one.

The county now has two mobile cameras that will bounce between locations. A list of roads scheduled to be enforced will be posted online. Eventually, Chief McMahon hopes to add six more cameras.

"We didn't just jump right into this. We took...a year and a half or so to study the speed problem here in Howard County to make sure that automated speed enforcement, speed cameras, could be part of the solution," McMahon said.

All of the money raised from speeding citations will go to public safety projects throughout the county.

All school zones in the county will be marked with signs saying they are photo enforced.

Information posted online won't give an exact time or location for the speed cameras.

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