HOWARD COUNTY, Md. (WJZ)—Speeders in Howard County, you better slow down. Speed cameras are now up and active in school zones.

Monique Griego has more on the new program.

Up until now these mobile speed cameras have been giving out warnings, but as of Wednesday if they catch you speeding in a school zone it will cost you.

“They zoom by all day long. They zoom by,” said Kristen Weaver.

Weaver was happy to learn about vans equipped to capture and now cite drivers for going over the limit in a nearby school zone.

“I think it’s fantastic,” she said.

For the past 30 days, the vans had been issuing warnings. But now if you blow by one, you’ll get a $40 ticket.

“We hope to change driver behavior by using this program and raising awareness,” said Sherry Llewellyn from Howard County Police.

The vans will move between different school zones throughout the day until the county figures out where they’re needed most.

Llewellyn says during the 30-day warning period, 650 citations were issued.

“We were not surprised by the number of citations because we know that it’s a problem here,” she said.

She says the department did a yearlong study and found sixty-six percent of drivers were speeding in school zones. Many people hope these cameras change that.

“Knowing that that camera is there hopefully it will slow people down because they don’t slow down when it’s a school zone anymore,” said Dana Carberry, driver.

Because these speed cameras are mobile, the county plans to post their locations in advance online.

Right now the county has two speed camera vans, but they could add more in the future.