Don’t Want A $456 Ticket? Slow Down In School Zones

September 28, 2014

Zoom through the Ernest Ward Middle or Molino Park Elementary, or any other school zone at 45 mph and it will cost you … $456 to be exact. Make it 50 miles an hour, and you’ll be talking to a judge.

School has been in session for over month now, and each day drivers continue to forget to slow down in school zones. And whether it is Ernest Ward, Molino Park or one of dozens of other schools, law enforcement is out often enforcing school zone speed limits.

If you are caught speeding in a school zone, be prepared for a big hit on your wallet, not mention your vehicle insurance rates.

Here is a list of fines if motorists are caught speeding in school zones in Escambia County:

  • 1 – 9 mph over the speed limit: $156.
  • 10 – 14 mph over the speed limit: $306.
  • 15 to 19 mph over the speed limit: $406.
  • 20 – 29 mph over the speed limit: $456.
  • 30 plus mph over the speed limit: Mandatory court appearance.

And if you fail to stop for a school bus that is loading or unloading students, that a $271 fine.

Pictured: An Escambia County Sheriff’s deputy makes a traffic stop near Ernest Ward Middle School in Walnut Hill after the driver was clocked speeding in the school zone. NorthEscambia.com  photo, click to enlarge.

Comments

13 Responses to “Don’t Want A $456 Ticket? Slow Down In School Zones”

  1. sunshinegrl on October 3rd, 2014 10:13 am

    Nothing can take the place of a child Everyone needs to slow down whenever children are present. Switch lanes if you see someone speeding that should slow them down then claim stupid like the rest of these drivers do.

  2. David Taylor on September 29th, 2014 5:03 pm

    All such fines should be required to be put into a fund to pay for necessary speed control mini-bumps / rumble-strips.

  3. Wally on September 29th, 2014 4:13 pm

    Not many people paying any attention to any speed signs in school zones, I watch trucks and cars go past Jim Allen every morning at 30 to 35. It seems people just do not care. For the horn blower let them be what they are, an idiot who blows his own horn.

  4. Michelle on September 29th, 2014 1:24 pm

    I’ve lost count of the amount of times I have done 20 mph when the light was flashing and been past. And more than 3 times I have stopped for a school bus (with children unloading) and had idiots go flying past me AND the bus. Nothing is worth being in a hurry for when children are near a school bus.

  5. Mike J. on September 29th, 2014 9:10 am

    The Beulah Elementary zone on Mobile Hwy certainly gets lots of speeders. The new flashing number radar device seems to be helping. I have people on my bumper all the time and a few years ago the worst was then some jerk actually passed me on this 2-way highway during a school zone time.

  6. William on September 28th, 2014 8:14 pm

    >>>Is Bratt and Northview not included, or do the kids not mean as much so we don’t mention them?

    Read the first line of the story again: “Zoom through the Ernest Ward Middle or Molino Park Elementary, or any other school zone..”

    When the story was written, two were chosen as EXAMPLES…Molino Park and EWMS because they are North Escambia schools located on a busy state highway. It certainly still applies to the other 60 or so schools in the county, but that would have been an awful run-on sentence.

  7. Questioning on September 28th, 2014 7:10 pm

    Is Bratt and Northview not included, or do the kids not mean as much so we don’t mention them?

  8. jeeperman on September 28th, 2014 1:06 pm

    Puddin, I think you might mean “implore” as the police already are “empowered.
    Unfortunately many are too busy with all of the equipment in their patrol vehicle to notice all of the traffic violations going on around them.

    As of Oct. 2013, texting while driving anywhere in Florida is a secondary offense. Meaning you have to be getting a ticket for something else first.

  9. CD on September 28th, 2014 11:45 am

    This law must not apply to Tate High School Zone on Hwy 29.

  10. Henry Coe on September 28th, 2014 11:42 am

    The fine for not stopping for a School Bus Loading or un-Loading children, should be 4 times that $271 dollar amount.

  11. paul on September 28th, 2014 7:42 am

    I’ve noticed a “No Texting zone” sign near a school.. Is that really a law or just a sign? If it is a law, why is it just near schools? I know NAS is a no phone zone too.. I wish everybody would get with that program.

  12. Puddin on September 28th, 2014 6:10 am

    Thats wonderful! Now lets empower the police to actually enforce it. Come on people, what if that was YOUR kid getting on or off the bus.

  13. anne on September 28th, 2014 4:16 am

    What do I do about the idiot on my bumper blowing his horn because I am slowing down for the 20mph sign? This is when the kids are crossing the street!