MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — If you speed in a Milledgeville school zone, somebody will be watching. On Monday, city police launched speed cameras to monitor speeds in front of Baldwin High School on Highway 49.
The Milledgeville Police Department says for the first 30 days, violators will get warnings. After the grace period, you will get a ticket.
Valina Reeves has lived in Milledgeville for more than 35 years now and had three kids go to Baldwin High.
"This is a busy highway. The speed limit may say 25 miles per hour, but people doing 35, 45 miles per hour," said Reeves.
Major Linc Boyer with the Milledgeville Police Department told us two school teachers died on the road from crashes. Reeves says the camera systems are needed.
"I noticed that a lot of kids will cross up and down that road. Buses, cars, just different vehicles will be going real fast. Even the school buses will be going real fast, and to me, that needs to stop because someone could lose their life," said Reeves.
Kevin Kotrick says he knows from experience how hectic Highway 49 can be in the morning.
"What happens is that you got people coming this way trying to get into the school and everyone's stopped. You got people trying to head to Macon that's trying to get around them. You got traffic coming this way and it's almost head-on all the time. I mean, it's crazy," said Kotrick.
Reeves says people will catch on.
"Once they start getting them tickets through the mail, they'll realize, 'OK, I've been going too fast,' and it's a good thing to have. Like I said, it will help monitor the traffic because the law enforcement can't do it all," said Reeves.
Milledgeville city manager Hank Griffeth spoke to 13WMAZ last year about why they're installing the speed cameras. He said after the 30-day grace period drivers, caught going 11 miles per hour over the speed limit during school hours will get a citation in the mail.
He said the first citation is $75, and each additional one is $125.