OAKTON, Va. — Since all of the speed cameras went live in eight school zones in Fairfax County last year, 36,234 citations have been mailed.
New data obtained by WUSA9 from the Fairfax Co. Police Department showed a wide range in the number of fines, but one camera stood out the most.
There are two cameras in the school zone outside Key Middle School facing both directions of Franconia Road. The county issued 12,039 citations from just the eastbound camera alone. The westbound camera saw 5,810 citations.
Fines range from $50 to $100 depending on the speed.
In comparison, the school zone at Chesterbrook Elementary School in McLean saw the least at 537 citations mailed.
Franconia Road is the bigger and busier road, which is why Mike Doyle of the Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets says designs play a critical role in improving safety.
“The more multiple lanes, the wider the lanes and with less traffic stop lights, the faster the drivers are going to go and that creates a dangerous environment,” Doyle told WUSA9. “Design is one of the key elements."
The new speed camera installed is at Blake Lane and Sutton Road in Oakton, just blocks away from where two Oakton High School students died in a crash.
The driver, 18-year-old Usman Shahid, was driving 81 miles per hour in a 35-mph zone. He was convicted on two counts of involuntary manslaughter in April.
Advocate Aimee Emmerich was in the courtroom and believes the camera’s location is in the wrong spot.
“This camera is placed at a blind spot on Blake Lane leading up to the school and so my concern is that it's not protecting the children,” Emmerich said. “They should have multiple cameras heading away from the school where students are speeding.”
Now that the 30-day warning period is over, police said there have been close to 250 warnings.
“The fact that it's catching that many people speeding for just two hours really shows how dangerous this road is,” resident Andrea Falkenhagen said. “The traffic going past my house is slowing so I think it's having an impact at least in slowing drivers down.”
Community members recently had a meeting the Virginia Department of Transportation to address other safety needs and concerns.