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Wellington to launch automated school-zone speed cameras Aug. 11 with 30-day warning period
Summary
Village staff and a camera vendor described a program to deploy automated speed-enforcement cameras at 11 Wellington schools beginning Aug. 11, including a 30-day warning period, a web-based contest/pay process and a vendor speed study that logged hundreds of drivers over the enforcement threshold.
The Village of Wellington Public Safety Committee on June 11 heard a presentation from the village's selected camera vendor about an automated school-zone speed enforcement program set to go live Aug. 11 with a 30-day warning period.
Committee members were told the system will be deployed at 11 schools and that the village will run a public-education campaign before citations are issued. A vendor representative said state legislation passed in July 2023 allows municipalities to use automated speed enforcement in school zones and requires visible signage and advance public notice. The vendor described a web-based process for recipients to pay or contest violations, and said there are no driver-license points and insurers are not notified.
Vendor representatives said the program will enforce school-zone limits starting 30 minutes before breakfast programs, during the school day and for 30 minutes after dismissal; a vendor representative said the enforcement threshold will be 10 miles per hour over the posted limit but later clarified the system will allow 11 mph over before issuing a violation. The vendor described a 14-day speed study at two Wellington schools that recorded 543 vehicles exceeding the enforcement threshold; 108 of those were recorded at between 41 and 60 mph and 11 were recorded above 60 mph.
The village intends to issue warnings rather than violations during the initial 30-day period following the Aug. 11 deployment; after the warning period ends, violations will be mailed and recipients will have 30 days to pay or contest using a cited PIN and citation number on the vendor's web portal. The vendor described planned outreach including a dedicated website, a QR code on materials, letters to school principals, the village newsletter and social media.
Committee members asked about enforcement times and thresholds. The vendor confirmed cameras will correspond with the school-zone flashers and enforce the school-zone speed limit (20 mph where posted for school zones), and that outside of the school-zone periods the posted speed limit will apply. The presentation listed start/end enforcement times for specific schools (for example, Pine Grove Elementary listed as 7:00 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. in the vendor slides); the vendor said the village will publish exact times by school on the program website.
No formal committee vote on the program was recorded during the meeting. Staff said the village will begin public outreach immediately and that the vendor will deploy systems to coincide with the opening of the school year.
