Signs warning of photo speed enforcement are already up but enforcement hasn’t begun on Waugh Street in the Dalton High School speed zone or on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Roan School.
“They are not operating yet,” said Dalton Communications Director Bruce Frazier. “And no, we do not have dates when they will begin. We are still waiting on permits from the state (Department of Transportation) on them.”
“There will be an information campaign from my office announcing when the cameras go into operation including a press release that will be sent to the Daily Citizen as well as postings on all of our social media accounts,” said Frazier. “And when the cameras do begin operating, there will be a 30-day grace period when warnings are sent instead of citations.”
In February 2024, City Council members approved a two-year contract with Blue Line Solutions, which provides speed enforcement cameras for cities and counties across the nation, to provide and maintain the enforcement system. That contract says the city will receive “65% of all paid Notices of Liability” and Blue Line Solutions’ “portion shall be 35% of all paid Notices of Liability.”
At that time Police Chief Cliff Cason said he did not have enough officers to enforce the school zone speed limits “the way we would like to.”
“This will not run in the summertime,” he said. “It will not run during break periods from school, snow days or if we have some type of school cancellation. It does not run overnight.”
During a November 2023 meeting of the city Finance Committee, which consists of the City Council members, Ryan Moore, regional sales manager for Blue Line Solutions, said that during a five-day period 16,510 vehicles came through the school zone at Roan School and 2,316 were doing at least 11 miles over the speed limit.
He said under state law a vehicle must be doing at least 11 mph over the speed limit for automatic speed enforcement to issue a citation. He said the majority of speeding cars were doing at least 14 mph over the speed limit and 457 were doing at least 20 mph over the speed limit.
On Waugh Street, during that same five-day period, 31,493 vehicles passed through the Dalton High School school zone. Of those, 5,463 were doing at least 11 mph above the speed limit and 280 were doing at least 20 mph over the speed limit.
Cason said no citations will be issued unless they are reviewed and approved by police department personnel.