MACON, Ga. — If you're driving near schools in Bibb County, slow down!
At the start of next year, if you don't slow down, you might get a ticket sent to your home in a few more school zones.
Speed limit cameras were first installed in the fall of last year to catch drivers going too fast in the county's school zones.
Now, new speed limit cameras are coming to six school zones here in Bibb County, and folks say it's all about who they're slowing down for.
According to the county, because it hasn’t been a full year since cameras at the current schools were activated, they could not say how many speeding tickets been handed out.
But some people who’ve already gotten those tickets say they are trying to change their ways.
Macon resident Jimmy Stanley says he's adjusted to the speed limit cameras after getting a ticket himself.
"The kids have to learn the value of life right now, so if we give them the value of life, I think they'll understand the safety of life," Stanley said. "I have curved my speeding right there. But all I can say is it's a safety zone, and we need to respect that, and I respect them doing it and coming up with a plan."
For Macon resident Angela Kimsey, she's noticed people speeding past the cameras, but the more cameras they install, the more she says the city gets its point across.
"It works! I think that what they're doing works!" Kimsey said. "I think that it does help keep the school children safe I feel like the people do need to slow down in school zones, but it is important."
Kimsey also received a school zone speeding ticket during the summer before school was in session. She says she only went one mile per hour above the limit, but paying the $100 dollar fine was her wake-up call.
“It’s $100 no matter what so that’s not good, and I think it’s a big deterrent for people because nobody wants to have to pay $100," Kimsey said. "I didn't like having to pay it, but it actually helped me because now I know to go the speed limit!"
Now, there will be new speed limit cameras at Sonny Carter Elementary, Hartley Elementary, John H. Heard Elementary, Springdale Elementary, Windsor Academy, and First Presbyterian Day School.
The cameras go live on Jan. 4, but for the first month, they'll only issue warnings. Full enforcement will begin on Feb. 5.
It's important to remember, the school zone speed cameras actively enforce the reduced limit on school days when classes are in session. From one hour before school starts until one hour after dismissal.
Flashing lights in a school zone indicate the reduced limit, but the cameras also enforce the regular, non-flashing limit in the middle of the school day.