Bradenton Cameras Catch 50 School Zone Speeders on 1st Day

By Lisa Neff

Fifty vehicle owners learned a costly lesson Aug. 11, the first day of class for students in the School District of Manatee County.

On the first day of the 2025-26 school year, cameras in Bradenton’s school speed zones recorded 50 violations, according to the Bradenton Police Department.

“Put another way — 50 drivers were exceeding the posted speed limit by more than 10 mph during school hours,” the BPD posted on social media.

The owners of the vehicles will receive notices for $100 violations.

“Officers can’t be everywhere at once,” BPD Chief Josh Cramer said. “The camera program is a force multiplier that allows us to address school zones — critical areas in need of safe driving — while continuing to respond to the needs of citizens throughout the city of Bradenton.”

The city introduced the cameras for the 2024-25 school year as part of a statewide initiative to boost student safety. Generally, the cameras are active from 30 minutes prior to a school day’s start to 30 minutes after class ends.

For example, at Ballard Elementary, the camera at 1800 Ninth Ave. W. is active 7:55 a.m.-3:45 p.m. on school days. The regular posted speed limit in the area is 30 miles per hour and the school zone limit is 15 mph 7:55-8:40 a.m. and 3:30-3:45 p.m.

In the first year of operation, the city issued 12,320 violations using the cameras.

How fast were people traveling in the school speed zones?

The highest speed recorded in 2024-25 was at Sea Breeze Elementary, where a motorist was traveling 78 mph in a 25-mph zone — 53 miles over the posted speed limit.

Violations are issued when a motorist exceeds the posted speed limit by more than 10 miles per hour.

The violations do not impact the vehicle owner’s driver’s license and are not part of an owner’s driving record, but failure to pay a violation can result in a uniform traffic citation being issued, which can impact an owner’s driving record — and insurance, according to Meredith Censullo, public information officer for the Bradenton Police Department.

In 2024-25, about 75% of the violations were paid, and about 25% were rolled over to UTCs or, in limited circumstances, voided, Censullo said.

“Ideally, our goal for the proceeds from this initiative is to be $0, because that would mean everyone is following the rules,” Cramer said. “But we’re in Bradenton, not a dream world, and the reality is that despite the vast amount of public outreach and education provided by BPD, people will speed. And sadly, sometimes tragically, they will speed in school zones.”

School speed zone cameras exist elsewhere, including at Anna Maria Elementary School on Anna Maria Island, but they are no longer active in unincorporated Manatee County.

The board of county commissioners voted 5-2 in early March to discontinue a program approved the year before and launched in August 2024.

The county issued 55,243 violation notices before repealing the program.

For more information about Bradenton’s speed zone cameras, go to bradentonpd.com/schoolzonecameras.