Fairfax Co. recommends moving forward with dozens more speed cameras in school zones

FAIRFAX, Va. — Fairfax County is considering adding more speed cameras to school zones after the pilot program proved to be successful.

In a recent meeting with county supervisors, Fairfax County Assistant Chief of Police Bob Blakley said the program, which currently has 10 cameras in some school zones “is effective.”

“It’s doing what we believe, which is reminding the community that there’s a school zone,” he said.

There’s now an effort to add 50 more speed cameras in school zones in different districts after the existing ones showed drivers are slowing down, by 25% in some cases.

South County High School on Silverbrook Road saw a 27% decrease in going over the school zone limit since the program started last year.

The only school zone to see an increase was Terraset Elementary School on Soapstone Drive by 3%

The county issued more than 20,000 citations from April 2023 to May 2024. About three-fourths of them were traveling between 10 and 14 miles over the speed limit. Meanwhile, it shows drivers in 7% of the citations were going 45 miles per hour in a school zone.

“I was initially surprised by how fast people were driving through school zones,” Chris French of Fairfax Families for Safe Streets told WUSA9. “I was also surprised by how effective they were in moderating people's behavior.”

French said you can never have too many cameras in school zones.

The cameras only activate during school zone hours, but Blakley admitted they had to work through challenges which include violations being issued outside of the active hours.

Another kink was how late notices were being mailed to drivers.

“I think the cameras just put the driver's focus back on the road where it should be and requires people to give the time and attention they deserve,” French added. “I think all of our school children need to be protected.”

Supervisors have yet to make a decision on the proposal.