- Over 102,350 school-zone speeding citations were issued in 2025.
- Cameras generated nearly $6.4M in fines, but $3M remains unpaid.
- The city is about to begin issuing red-light camera tickets as well.
School zones are full of vulnerable road users, so that’s why there are so many measures to increase safety and decrease risk in those areas. In Richmond, Virginia, a city of about 233,000 people, one method is to use speed cameras to ticket drivers when they go too fast. The program doesn’t seem to be slowing anyone down, though, but it sure is bringing in a lot of cold, hard cash.
More: These Jeeps Are Mobile Speed Cameras Writing A Dozen Tickets An Hour
The speed camera program in the city rolled out beginning in 2023 and then expanded throughout 2024. During that latter year, cameras issued 26,739 tickets for speeding. Last year, with two more cameras working and all online throughout the year, that figure shot up to 102,350 tickets worth $6.4 million in revenue.
Millions Unpaid
According to WRIC, over $3 million of that remains unpaid, but that’s not a cause for pause to the city. Authorities are going to move two of the cameras from the school where they see the least amount of citations and put them at a different school where they believe that there’s a higher traffic safety risk.
Notably, there’s already at least one camera at that new location so officers will simply have more angles with which to catch speeders. Cameras only operate on school days during arrival and dismissal times.
Where the Tickets Are Piling Up
Nobody will argue that speeding is acceptable around a school, but it’s worth pointing out the infrastructure here. River City Middle School, which generated the most tickets and the most revenue, is on a four-lane divided highway.
Richmond High School for the Arts, which came in second, is on a four-lane turnpike. Road design obviously matters, and it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that wide-open roads produce faster drivers.
Oh, and in case you felt like this was a lot of surveillance and revenue generation, there’s more. The city is now piloting a red-light camera system and is in the middle of its grace period for it. Soon, it’ll go live and begin collecting even more cash.