FAIRFAX, Va. — More than 1,000 drivers in Fairfax County received warnings in the first two months of a speed camera pilot program. The program is aimed to slow drivers down and keep pedestrians safe in eight school zones and one construction zone across the county.
From Feb. 10 to April 10, the Fairfax County Police Department issued 1,200 warnings, according to Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay.
“I want to be clear – our goal is not to raise revenue,” McKay said in his community newsletter. “In fact, I would like to see not a single penny come from this program. We only hope to change driver behavior and promote safer roadways throughout the county.”
The county started to cite drivers on April 10. McKay stressed there are no points or insurance impacts from the citation. However, he added there are delays in issuing a citation because of the number of possible violations. Aside from the warnings, McKay said the cameras picked up on possible speeding 6,624 times.
Each one still needs to be vetted by police and the DMV before a ticket goes out.
"I don't how many of those will literally become citations," McKay said. "The data has to be looked at, they have to make sure that they have a clear tag number, they have to make sure the machines are calibrated right, and then match that data with DMV data and issue those citations. It's a brand new program so there's going to be a lag time between when a violation possibly occurs and when somebody might have received that violation in the mail."
Moving forward, speeders who go over 10 mph over the limit, will be ticketed between $50 and $100 depending on how fast they are going.
The cameras are located near the following schools:
- Chesterbrook Elementary School: Kirby Road near the school (Dranesville District)
- Irving Middle School: Old Keene Mill Road near the school (Braddock District)
- Key Middle School: Franconia Road- near the school (Franconia District)
- London Towne Elementary School: Stone Road near the school (Sully District)
- Sleepy Hollow Elementary School: Sleepy Hollow Road near the school (Mason District)
- South County Middle School: Silverbrook Road near the school (Mt. Vernon District)
- Terraset Elementary School: Soapstone Drive near the school (Hunter Mill District)
- West Springfield High School: Rolling Road near the school (Springfield District)
The process for getting the first eight cameras installed took nearly a year, and required input from school officials, a community survey, and several citizen complaints. Police said that the county also saw several tragedies on the roads involving teens in the last year, including a crash on Blake Lane in June 2022 that left two Oakton High School students dead.
"Fairfax County Public Schools has been working hard to establish that as a school zone," Fairfax County Police Captain Alan Hanson said. "It's not up and running yet, but we expect in the not-too-distant future."
Local transportation officials said there was a final walkthrough of Blake Lane on Wednesday as part of a safety audit. McKay is hopeful they can have cameras as early as 30 days but no later than the start of the school year.
People can see and pay their citations by clicking on this link.