Questions are growing across Miami-Dade County over whether school zone speed cameras are issuing tickets based on confusing or inaccurate signs. The concerns first came from viewers in Miami Springs, who noticed different speed limits posted within the same school zone.
Southwest Miami-Dade resident Erick Perez said he received a $100 ticket earlier this year for speeding in front of Pinecrest Middle/High School on Bird Road. He said he never drove past that school. After he appealed, he found the school listed on the violation had been changed online to Pinecrest Preparatory Academy Elementary School, a campus he does pass. The ticket also listed a time of 7:42 a.m., while the sign at the location indicated enforcement had not yet begun. The violation was eventually dismissed.
Local 10 said viewers from Northwest Miami-Dade to the southwest have raised similar questions. RedSpeed, the company that operates the camera system, did not respond to questions about whether it was addressing discrepancies elsewhere. The county said a large number of RedSpeed locations are in various stages of permitting, construction and inspection.
Sheriff’s office voids violations
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said RedSpeed updated its records to separate Pinecrest Academy’s elementary campus from its secondary campus, two schools with similar names about six blocks apart. During that process, the locations of the two schools were inadvertently transposed.
The sheriff’s office, working with RedSpeed, said it voided all violations issued during the affected timeframe. Payments tied to those tickets will be fully refunded. Attorneys who handle these cases told Local 10 that cameras should stop issuing tickets until the discrepancies are resolved.
