At the beginning of the school year, during class meetings,  West Albany High School’s resource officer, Officer Williams announced that the whole city of Albany would be putting in speeding cameras to discourage drivers from speeding in the school zones during school hours. Since being announced in early Sept., there have been no public updates and there have been questions about the speeding cameras that haven’t been answered. 

     By the end of the year, there will be four speeding cameras at four different road intersections around the Albany schools; North Albany Road, Queen and Elm St, Thornton Lake St, and Queen and Geary. The first camera will be put at Queen and Gary Street around November 1st.

    A question students have been wondering is if the consequences of the speeding cameras will be the same even if it’s during a break. The answer is that the staff at the police station will be up-to-date about the school schedule. However, it will still count if children are present and if it is still in the listed time zones on the posted signs posted around schools, “..It still counts because [the] majority of these school zone signs say either when kids are present or seven to five.” stated by Officer Williams.
    There won’t be any immediate citations after the cameras go up. Instead, there will be a 30-day warning period before any citations happen. The traffic officers will decide if they want to give out a citation, which will cost around $300. If they do, the citations will come through the mail with a picture of the person receiving it, the license plate, the color of the car, and the speed the person was going. If someone gets multiple citations, it won’t be in the hands of Ms. Williams or the traffic police. It will be in the hands of the Department of Motor Vehicles. At that point, it could lead to a license suspension or a higher car insurance rate.

Photo by Officer Williams wife, Tara Williams