ROME, Ga. — The Rome Police Department began a thirty-day warning period Monday to help drivers adjust to the new traffic cameras in school zones.
Officials said that new traffic cameras were installed at the school zone for Main Elementary on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to ensure pedestrians’ safety.
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The cameras are set to operate one hour before school until one hour after school, only on school days, police said.
Rome City officials said during the warning period, the City would mail warning notices to drivers.
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Crews also posted new signage that would alert drivers of the increased enforcement.
“We have high hopes that Automated Enforcement will encourage drivers to slow down and obey the law,” Assistant Chief Burnett said in a statement. “Traffic fatalities are the number one cause of death for children aged five to fourteen and young adults. Very minimal reductions in speed make the roads a lot safer, especially for children.”
RPD said the Automated Enforcement of School Zones program was instituted after the rate of pedestrian deaths went up around the country.
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Officials added Georgia was named one of the five deadliest states for pedestrians, with the seventh-highest fatality rate.
After a study of drivers in Rome, police found that 750 drivers exceeded over ten miles per hour over the posted speed limit during a single day.
Citations will be issued and will not count as points against a driver’s record, police said.
The Warning Period is set to end on Jan. 5, 2023.
Anyone with questions about the new program can call the Rome Police Department at 706-238-5111.
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