August 1, 2025 • 24 mins
School is almost back in session and the RedSpeed school zone cameras will be rolling!
Join hosts Lisa Greenberg and Officer Mercedes Simonds as they welcome Chief Sizemore for a straightforward conversation about the RedSpeed school zone cameras returning on August 11th.
Think of this as your essential back-to-school refresher – except instead of school supplies and new clothes, we're talking about keeping kids safe on their way to class. Chief Sizemore breaks down exactly how the program works with crystal clarity: "Nothing changes from before, except there's cameras to capture the speed. That's it." When those yellow lights are flashing, it's 20 mph. During regular school hours, it's the standard posted speed limit. Simple as that.
The team addresses common questions and misconceptions head-on. No, this isn't a revenue scheme (they'd prefer zero tickets). Yes, there's a 10 mph buffer before violations trigger. And drivers have options when they receive a notice: pay the $100 fine, contest it, or identify another driver. The worst choice? Ignoring it, which escalates to a formal citation with potential license points after 30 days.
Beyond the mechanics, the conversation reveals the human stakes. Chief Sizemore shares sobering reminders of past tragedies involving students and how speeding directly correlates to crash probability. The program aims to modify driver behavior and create safer streets for everyone – not just students, but all Cape Coral residents.
Ready for the new school year? Slow down, watch for flashing lights, and remember that patience is essential during those first chaotic weeks of school traffic. Visit CapeCops.com for comprehensive FAQs and additional resources to navigate the RedSpeed program. Your attention behind the wheel could save a life – and that's what this is all about.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome back to another episode of the Cape Cop
cast Chiefs Chat Edition.
I'm one of your hosts, LisaGreenberg.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And I'm Officer Mercedes Simons.
Today we have Chief Sizemore inthe house.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yeah, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We are going to talk a little bit about Red Speed
today.
We've obviously had a lot ofquestions from our community and
we just want to make sure thateverybody feels comfortable.
We go into everything and youfeel like really set and ready
to go.
You know what the rules andregulations are.
But here's the secret Basicallynothing changes from before,
except there's cameras tocapture the speed.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
That's it.
We're doing nothing above whatyou learned in driver's ed.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Right and school's going back into session in a
little over a week.
So we want to kind of start nowwith getting the community
questions answered.
We want to remind you now sothat you can put the things that
should really already be inpractice when you're on the road
really into practice so thatwhen the cameras are activated,
(01:05):
the red speed school zones areactivated, you are ready to go,
Ready to go.
You already know what to do.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
It's a theme, right, school's coming back, summer's
over, we're back together.
Our little summer break is overand when you're in the mood
already for lists, right, youneed all the school supplies,
you need school clothes, youneed to get back on that routine
.
This is just another part ofthat back to school list.
So if you think of it in thoseterms, it's really not anything
(01:34):
crazy.
And, like you guys have said,we're not covering any new
ground from what you learnedwhen you were riding next to
your parents, learning how todrive in a parking lot or in
driver's ed.
It's about paying attention,situational awareness and
keeping everybody safe Simple.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Following the law Really, I mean we had a With a
grace period.
Right we're giving you a littleextra, we're helping you a
little bit, but we did a mediatown hall yesterday or a couple
days ago and we talked aboutreally nothing has changed.
It's when you're driving,you're checking your
(02:11):
surroundings.
If you see blinking, flashinglights, you should have already
anyway been abiding by what thatmeans, which is slower speed
limits.
It's a 20 mile per hour schoolzone.
We go that speed limit.
When it's not blinking, we gothe posted regular speed limit.
These are things that shouldhave already been in place and
now we just have the technologyessentially to capture when
(02:32):
people aren't following the law.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, I think.
I think the biggest thing thatwe've seen people be confused
over is it continues throughoutthe day.
The cameras do so.
It's 30 minutes before schoolwhen the lights are flashing,
but even when the lights are notflashing during the day, speed
is being captured on the camerasand I think that's people's
biggest issue that they perhapsdon't understand.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
This is the easiest way I could do it.
So let's just say don't quoteme on these times, I'm just
going to use times.
So Lisa Greenberg ElementarySchool starts at 8 o'clock and
runs till 3 o'clock.
Right, it's a half hour before,so 7.30.
The camera starts all the waytill 3.30, a half hour after, so
(03:16):
that's your first step.
The camera is operating 30minutes before, all the way
through the day to the end ofschool, and 30 minutes after.
That's the duration.
Good, good, then, within thatline, that linear time graph,
it's the speed limit.
What speed limit?
(03:38):
Ah, if the lights are blinkingat the beginning and the end,
that's 20 miles an hour.
Lights are blinking at thebeginning and the end, that's 20
miles an hour.
So if you're driving, youshould be entering a school zone
at or around the speed limit.
Is what we're hoping for.
We want you to be at the speedlimit or under.
But you even have a little bitof grace.
(03:58):
So you're driving 45, and thenyou get close to LGE Lisa
Greenberg.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Elementary.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
You see the blinking lights, that means 20 Greenberg
Elementary.
You see the blinking lights,that means 20 miles an hour and
there's blinking lights.
There's a sign that says you'reentering a school zone.
Get down to 20 miles an hour.
You actually have up to 10miles an hour over.
We don't recommend that, butthat's the latitude that we give
you and you drive through andthere's a sign that says end
(04:26):
school zone and then you resumethe 45 miles an hour once you
leave the shadow of LGE.
If it's during the school day,remember that linear graph.
So 7.30 because it's a halfhour before to 3.30, half hour
after, if it's in that timeframe of during the day and the
lights are not blinking.
(04:46):
So let's say you go througharound lunchtime, it's not 20
because they're not blinking.
It reverts back to the normalspeed limit which, like we
talked about in the beginning,you should be doing anyway.
So we're not reinventing speedlimits, we're not changing speed
limits.
It's the regular speed, postedspeed, the lowered speed for
(05:08):
school zones.
That is not new, that's it.
So if you're approaching andlet's look at it from a you
perspective, right, you live inyour neighborhood, you know what
is around your house or yourcommute, there could be a
traffic light that you encounterevery day that it's going to
(05:29):
take me two cycles to getthrough because it's busy.
Or there's a man who walks hisdog every day.
I know he's going to be outthere, I got to be careful of
that.
Or there's somebody who pushesa loved one in a wheelchair.
I have to be a little bitmindful.
You start to know your routine.
Well, you put the school thatyou drive past into your routine
and when you're approaching andyou see the lights, just
(05:53):
automatically think like youalways have 20 miles an hour.
It's not designed to get theregular Joe or Jane who are
driving to school and see it.
They slow down to 20.
Their car's not 100% calibratedand they're doing 23.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Right, you're good.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
It's the person that's doing 57 through that 20,
which has happened, and duringthe regular school day, when it
goes back up to 45, we've hadpeople almost at 100 miles an
hour through there.
I don't think any excuse iswarranted for something like
that.
But getting back to ourscenario, you know your
situational awareness Payattention to the lights, pay
(06:34):
attention to people on the road,pay attention to the signs that
tell you that you're enteringand then pay attention to the
ones that tell you that you'reexiting.
There are a couple of schoolzones that are unique in that
they're longer, and SkylineBoulevard is one in particular
because there are three campuseswithin like 100 yards of each
(06:54):
other, if you're lookingdownward from a map.
So therefore the length of theschool zone is a little bit
longer.
I think that one crosses overTrafalgar, but there's a sign
that says you've entered it anduntil you see that sign that
you've exited it, you're in it.
If it's flashing lights, it's20.
That could be a little bit of along stretch, but that's what
(07:16):
it is.
If it's not, if it's during theregular school day, but not
blinking, it's 45.
You can go 10 over and still befine, and then when you exit.
That that doesn't mean reallystep on it and go 20 over
because you're free.
We want traffic safety and goodbehavior modification through
(07:36):
this program and, like you saidearlier, mercedes, it just gives
us a tool to capture that.
It's a force multiplier.
People have asked why don't youjust have officers in those
school zones?
We have, we do.
And now what this does?
This technology because of thestatute, the law change enables
us to use that, so those sameofficers can then go to other
(07:59):
locations and do the samefunction of traffic.
So it's a force multiplier, ifyou will.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Right.
Those officers can now go to anintersection on Del Prado that
may not be a school zone butsees a lot of speeding or other
traffic issues.
So it allows us to broaden ourtraffic enforcement.
And you know, just being frankhere when we talk about this
conversation, obviously the goalhere is overall.
We want the kids to be safe, wewant behavior to be changed and
(08:27):
if we saw no tickets come fromthis and no violations and we
made no money, that would be thegoal.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So anyone that's a win again.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
To be frank, anyone who is complaining about this is
telling us that they're upsetthat they are getting caught for
going more than 10 miles overthe speed limit in a school zone
in a school zone that's one ofthe things that I that I have
heard not directly, but you seeit like on the news or
anecdotally that it's a cashgrab.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I can tell you that it's not.
I don't want it.
I don't.
I don't want the cash, I wantthe safety.
Um, so if, if we could do achallenge where we whittle these
violations down to zero, thatwould be outstanding, because
that just means that people arecomplying.
And when you back out a littlebit and look at the situation
(09:16):
and you drive through theseschool zones, there's a lot of
kids that are walking and ridingbikes.
And in this city, if you lookaround when you're driving, if
you're new to Cape Coral or youforgot, you see these benches
that are by all these bus stops.
And that comes from a younglady, a girl, several years ago,
(09:36):
layla, and she was hit andkilled by a driver when she was
on her way to the bus stop.
So we've had kids that havebeen clipped on their bicycle.
We've had kids that are walkingacross the street that have
gotten hit, and it's just onemore way to get you to slow down
, increase your reaction timeand really get your mind around.
(09:58):
Man, there's a lot of kids hereand I don't see them, but
everybody says I didn't see themwhen they have a tragedy like
that.
So it's just giving you thatopportunity.
Like I said, hopefully we don'tmake any cash on the thing, but
let's talk about that.
What happens if you get aviolation?
Right, you're going to receiveit in the mail.
So I'm driving, I'm not payingattention, or I'm in a different
(10:23):
, I'm running an errand, so I'mon a different, I'm running an
errand, so I'm on a differentpart of my routine, because
there's what 17 of thesethroughout the city.
So if I make a mistake and Ireceive one, it's going to have
a picture of me going through itwith my tag.
If it was me.
I have a couple of options.
I can pay it's $100.
(10:43):
We'll talk about where thatgoes.
Couple of options I can payit's $100.
We'll talk about where thatgoes.
I can say absolutely no way I'mgoing to exercise my right to
go contest this violation,absolutely.
You can elect a hearing and youcan go plead your case to a
magistrate, which is like ajudge in a civil-type hearing.
So you get to go talk to thejudge and say, nope, that's not
(11:04):
what happened, and then you canplead your case.
Or well, that's my car, I'm theregistered owner, but my wife
was driving that.
So I talked to my wife hey,were you driving?
And then it's a decision as afamily I can just pay it or I
can put on the violation thatyou get an affidavit that it
wasn't me, it was my wife, sendit back.
(11:25):
They will reissue the violationto the driver.
Somebody will be heldaccountable for it.
The last thing that's really notpreferred is if you do nothing
and doing nothing is not anoption.
If you do nothing with it,you're like, ah, I'll get to it,
or this is nonsense and, likethe movies, you ball it up and
(11:46):
throw it away In 30 days.
If you haven't either electedto contest it and go to a
hearing or pay it or complete anaffidavit that says it wasn't
me, it's going to gettransferred into a uniform
traffic citation or UTC.
What a UTC is is a ticket, thesame thing that if an officer
pulled you over and it goesthrough the county clerk of
(12:06):
courts.
That could spell troublebecause you could open yourself
up to points.
As they stand Now, there's nopoints on your license.
You are subject to that andit's a higher fine and it could
go into suspension of yourlicense if you don't address it.
So doing nothing is probablythe worst option that you could
take.
So it's a pretty simple processwith that.
And then what were some of theother questions?
(12:28):
Where does the money go?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Where does it go?
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Okay, so you want to take part of that.
Where does it go?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Where does my?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
money go.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I think we get $39 out of every $100.
And that goes specifically backinto traffic enforcement,
traffic safety.
There's a portion that goes tothe state, there's a portion
that goes to the school crossingguards, I think, in the
different school zones theschool district, the school
district.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
So let's talk about two of those, the ones that come
back to us when it comes backto the city the city.
In the statute that allowedthis law or enacted this law, it
spells out when it comes back,it has to go towards law
enforcement and traffic safetystuff.
I can tell you I'm committed toreinvesting this back into
(13:17):
traffic safety More equipment,more radars, more laser vehicles
Depending upon how much thereis, there could be more traffic
officers.
We have paid for theadministration of this program
because it takes manpower toactually run it.
That's covered.
And then school crossing guardswe contract out to an employment
(13:39):
company that does schoolcrossing guards.
They do it all over the stateand, like anything else, their
labor costs have risen.
It's a better economical bangfor your buck, for the taxpayer,
for us in budgeting tooutsource that role.
Well, these fees can be andwill be, applied to that
contract so that those moniesthat would have been budgeted or
(14:02):
allocated over there can beredirected into more traffic
safety things.
So we are 100% investing backinto the business for our share
of it and our business istraffic safety.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Right, and for anyone who, like you said you've
anecdotally heard from one ofthe news, people yesterday or a
couple of days ago said we havepeople who are saying this is
just a cash grab.
What do you have to say aboutthat?
We wouldn't be sitting heredoing a podcast.
We wouldn't be sitting hereposting on social media about it
, warning people, remindingpeople.
We wouldn't be having a mediatown hall and taking their
(14:38):
questions and asking them toplease remind the public that
this is going back into effecton August 11th.
We wouldn't be putting outcommunity messaging, we wouldn't
be having signs about it Ifthis was some sort of money grab
, wouldn't we want to be likeshh, let's make as much money as
possible and not tell peoplewhat we're doing out here.
(14:58):
So the fact that we areliterally I guess not literally
figuratively shouting ateveryone at the top of our lungs
, this is happening.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
You're almost literally yelling.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
I know Well, you should have seen me a couple of
days ago.
I can get pretty fired up aboutthis.
You're right, it's not a secret.
It's not a secret.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
It's very transparent .
It's out in the open.
We're telling you that thisprogram is here because I'm
rooting for you to beat it.
Beat the system, drive thespeed limit, be safe, laugh
every time you go through youdidn't get me.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
That's what I want.
I think that's the not funnypart.
But the funny part that we'veseen about it is people are
trying to figure it out so thatthey can figure out when they
can speed and when they can'tstop.
Just go the speed limit, that'sit.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I did hear that there was a neighborhood where a
neighbor said that people aredriving on parallel side streets
to be able to beat it.
That's kind of silly to mebecause those kids that end up
in the school zone haveoriginated from somewhere and it
may be those side streets.
So you're not really beatingthe system, you're potentially
(16:11):
endangering those kids.
But to be able to beat a Idon't know eighth of a mile
strip of 20 miles an hour,that's silly During the day.
If you're doing it to be ableto go 45, right that's.
Most of the streets are 45.
So 56 and above, you're goingout of your way to be able to go
(16:33):
11, 12, 20 over.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Right, you're not even making up time on the side
streets.
That's what I'm saying.
That's the part that'sridiculous to me.
How fast are you going?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
I'm rooting for people to do it right and I'm
not rooting for that.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
If you don't want to give us your money, we're not
forcing you.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Just follow the law.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
It's about safety.
Slow it down.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
And guess what, if we get complaints that there are a
lot of people speeding on sidestreets, we still have officers
to send over to that area toenforce the side streets too.
But don't make us do that.
That's an absolute waste ofresources, just slow down.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
It's for you.
I know somebody in this is backwhen I was in school.
So I know a classmate who inthe morning was driving to
school it was dark, you know,because the way the times change
and everything and was drivinga little bit too fast and hit a
child and it really obviously itruined that family's life, but
(17:31):
the consequences emotionally forher it was devastating and I'm
sure that's something that shelives with every day.
And she was just a teen driver.
So it there are serious stakes,you know, serious stakes, not
just for the child, which shouldbe enough, but for you.
You don't want to go throughsomething like that.
It's absolutely horrific to bea party to that.
(17:53):
So it's just one more tool.
We want to keep it light, don'twant to preach to people,
that's a heavy topic, but thoseare the stakes that we have is
that it just takes one splitsecond and, let's be honest, the
kids are not always payingattention.
They're on their devices, theyhave their earbuds in, they're
on electric scooters, they'regiving all kinds of challenges
(18:17):
for us to be able to do itsafely.
So by going a little bit sloweryou can kind of help a kid
who's learning how to navigatethe world.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Right and not to mention.
Obviously, this is to keep thekids safe, but we could all sit
here and think of several peoplewe know who've been impacted by
a traffic crash, whether theywere in a crash themselves,
whether their friend was in acrash, or whether they lost
someone in a crash or someonethey know had serious injuries
in a crash.
(18:46):
And speeding directlycorrelates to the probability of
a crash.
So this is not just protectingkids who are walking, kids who
are on their bike.
This is protecting you as adriver as well, and the other
drivers around you, because it'sholding you accountable to
going the speed limit andproviding a quote, unquote
(19:08):
punishment for not going thespeed limit, which will alter
the driver's behaviors, whichwill ultimately keep you safer
on the road.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
We can show it in the data that when people slow down
and when education is the firststep and education dovetails
into enforcement, whichultimately both of those, either
independently or together, willchange driver behavior.
And if that driver behavior ischanged for the better, then our
crashes go down, our injury andfatality crashes go down.
(19:39):
And even absent a school zone.
If you look at our seriouscrashes, our traffic homicide
investigations that we have, agreat majority of them are
speed-related.
There's impaired drivers aswell, but speed is a big factor.
So if it gets your mindsetbehind the wheel a little bit
safer here in these areas, we'rehopeful too that that might
(20:02):
translate out into other areasand other times of the day and
night day or night that willmake you a little bit safer.
So key takeaways for me,nothing's changed here.
You're driving, go the speedlimit or pretty close to it.
Keep an eye on yoursurroundings.
If you enter a school zone andthe lights are flashing, it's 20
.
Right, slow down.
(20:23):
If it's during the school dayand the lights are not flashing,
it's the regular speed limit.
But the cheat code if you'redoing this is if you hover
around the posted speed limit asyour default, you're never
going to encounter red speed.
You're never going to get oneof those funny things in the
mail and you're never going tojoin that exclusive club of
(20:46):
receiving one of thoseviolations.
And that's what we want.
We were looking for that.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Absolutely.
And if you have any questionsand you're listening to this or
watching this that we didn'taddress if you go to CapeCopscom
, right on the homepage, we havea button you can click that
says Red Speed Cameras.
That's where all of ourfrequently asked questions are.
And if, for some reason, Ithink we've done a pretty good
job of tailoring it to thequestions we've received in our
(21:10):
area but if, for some reason,your question is not answered on
there like, of course, if youreceived a violation and you
have questions about yourviolation specifically we aren't
going to have those answers.
The number for Red Speed isright there on that page for you
to call them up and get thosequestions answered 100%.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
You two, I'll give you credit.
You've really curated that FAQsection on the website for Cape
Coral-based questions.
We launched this thing at theend of the school year last year
.
There are stock FAQs providedby the company Redspeed, but we
have taken it further and, ofthe data that we've gotten based
on the questions, we'vetailored it.
(21:47):
So almost every single questionthat you could have is right
there in plain English.
Even I can understand it.
And then anything beyond thatprominently displayed is the
number to Red Speed.
They're the subject matterexperts in any technical
questions that are beyond what'salready put on CapeCopscom.
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
That's the goal.
The goal is to have absolutelyzero citations that we have come
in.
That's the goal, and we needyour help, the community's help,
to be able to do that.
That's it.
That's it.
Simple stuff, all right?
Well, anything help, thecommunity's help to be able to
do that, that's it.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
That's it, simple stuff All right.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Well, anything else Chief?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
No, that's it.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Good to be back.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Good to have the gang back together.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Yes, summer break is over.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Doesn't feel like it, it's almost over.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
We have a couple more weeks, a couple more weeks.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
August 11th is is when all of the cameras will be
back up and operational.
There were a couple that wereon here and there for summer
school, but now all the oneslisted on our website, if you go
to the Red Speed FAQ, will beoperational again.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Give me 10 seconds to not just Red Speed, but the
first day of school brings.
Oh yeah, car line is back in myneighborhood.
There's going to be a lot ofcars in the beginning dropping
off and then in the afternoonand there's people that start
stacking up early and, just soyou know, the campuses are
secure.
(23:10):
So if you get there, if LGElets out at three and you get
mom, dad, grandma, grandpashowing up to pick somebody up
at I don't know 2.15 to line up,the campus is locked.
They can't get in.
So they can go up to the gate.
They are allowed to startqueuing in the road and they
will queue.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
They will queue, so be ready for that and it will
back up.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
That is allowed.
It's a little slow the firstweek or two of school.
The schools are getting used tothat flow Again.
There's new staff at the school, there's new students there's,
there's, there's a lot of new.
So, trust me, every year almost30 years I've seen it by the
(23:56):
second week of school.
It's routine, it's smooth, itflies.
But the first two weeks you'relike this is absolutely what in
the world.
So there's a lot coming onAugust 11th and we have
promotional testing that day, soit'll be a buzz in here too.
Oh boy, as a tease for anotherKip Cop test.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
That's awesome, yeah.
So just be patient, everyone bepatient.
We say it every year Just bepatient.
Well, thank you, chief, you gotit.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Thank you, ladies.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Yeah, thank you Everybody out there.
Slow down and stay safe.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
We'll see you next time.
Have a great weekend.
Welcome back to another episode of the Cape Cop
cast Chiefs Chat Edition.
I'm one of your hosts, LisaGreenberg.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And I'm Officer Mercedes Simons.
Today we have Chief Sizemore inthe house.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yeah, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We are going to talk a little bit about Red Speed
today.
We've obviously had a lot ofquestions from our community and
we just want to make sure thateverybody feels comfortable.
We go into everything and youfeel like really set and ready
to go.
You know what the rules andregulations are.
But here's the secret Basicallynothing changes from before,
except there's cameras tocapture the speed.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
That's it.
We're doing nothing above whatyou learned in driver's ed.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Right and school's going back into session in a
little over a week.
So we want to kind of start nowwith getting the community
questions answered.
We want to remind you now sothat you can put the things that
should really already be inpractice when you're on the road
really into practice so thatwhen the cameras are activated,
(01:05):
the red speed school zones areactivated, you are ready to go,
Ready to go.
You already know what to do.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
It's a theme, right, school's coming back, summer's
over, we're back together.
Our little summer break is overand when you're in the mood
already for lists, right, youneed all the school supplies,
you need school clothes, youneed to get back on that routine
.
This is just another part ofthat back to school list.
So if you think of it in thoseterms, it's really not anything
(01:34):
crazy.
And, like you guys have said,we're not covering any new
ground from what you learnedwhen you were riding next to
your parents, learning how todrive in a parking lot or in
driver's ed.
It's about paying attention,situational awareness and
keeping everybody safe Simple.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Following the law Really, I mean we had a With a
grace period.
Right we're giving you a littleextra, we're helping you a
little bit, but we did a mediatown hall yesterday or a couple
days ago and we talked aboutreally nothing has changed.
It's when you're driving,you're checking your
(02:11):
surroundings.
If you see blinking, flashinglights, you should have already
anyway been abiding by what thatmeans, which is slower speed
limits.
It's a 20 mile per hour schoolzone.
We go that speed limit.
When it's not blinking, we gothe posted regular speed limit.
These are things that shouldhave already been in place and
now we just have the technologyessentially to capture when
(02:32):
people aren't following the law.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yeah, I think.
I think the biggest thing thatwe've seen people be confused
over is it continues throughoutthe day.
The cameras do so.
It's 30 minutes before schoolwhen the lights are flashing,
but even when the lights are notflashing during the day, speed
is being captured on the camerasand I think that's people's
biggest issue that they perhapsdon't understand.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
This is the easiest way I could do it.
So let's just say don't quoteme on these times, I'm just
going to use times.
So Lisa Greenberg ElementarySchool starts at 8 o'clock and
runs till 3 o'clock.
Right, it's a half hour before,so 7.30.
The camera starts all the waytill 3.30, a half hour after, so
(03:16):
that's your first step.
The camera is operating 30minutes before, all the way
through the day to the end ofschool, and 30 minutes after.
That's the duration.
Good, good, then, within thatline, that linear time graph,
it's the speed limit.
What speed limit?
(03:38):
Ah, if the lights are blinkingat the beginning and the end,
that's 20 miles an hour.
Lights are blinking at thebeginning and the end, that's 20
miles an hour.
So if you're driving, youshould be entering a school zone
at or around the speed limit.
Is what we're hoping for.
We want you to be at the speedlimit or under.
But you even have a little bitof grace.
(03:58):
So you're driving 45, and thenyou get close to LGE Lisa
Greenberg.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Elementary.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
You see the blinking lights, that means 20 Greenberg
Elementary.
You see the blinking lights,that means 20 miles an hour and
there's blinking lights.
There's a sign that says you'reentering a school zone.
Get down to 20 miles an hour.
You actually have up to 10miles an hour over.
We don't recommend that, butthat's the latitude that we give
you and you drive through andthere's a sign that says end
(04:26):
school zone and then you resumethe 45 miles an hour once you
leave the shadow of LGE.
If it's during the school day,remember that linear graph.
So 7.30 because it's a halfhour before to 3.30, half hour
after, if it's in that timeframe of during the day and the
lights are not blinking.
(04:46):
So let's say you go througharound lunchtime, it's not 20
because they're not blinking.
It reverts back to the normalspeed limit which, like we
talked about in the beginning,you should be doing anyway.
So we're not reinventing speedlimits, we're not changing speed
limits.
It's the regular speed, postedspeed, the lowered speed for
(05:08):
school zones.
That is not new, that's it.
So if you're approaching andlet's look at it from a you
perspective, right, you live inyour neighborhood, you know what
is around your house or yourcommute, there could be a
traffic light that you encounterevery day that it's going to
(05:29):
take me two cycles to getthrough because it's busy.
Or there's a man who walks hisdog every day.
I know he's going to be outthere, I got to be careful of
that.
Or there's somebody who pushesa loved one in a wheelchair.
I have to be a little bitmindful.
You start to know your routine.
Well, you put the school thatyou drive past into your routine
and when you're approaching andyou see the lights, just
(05:53):
automatically think like youalways have 20 miles an hour.
It's not designed to get theregular Joe or Jane who are
driving to school and see it.
They slow down to 20.
Their car's not 100% calibratedand they're doing 23.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Right, you're good.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
It's the person that's doing 57 through that 20,
which has happened, and duringthe regular school day, when it
goes back up to 45, we've hadpeople almost at 100 miles an
hour through there.
I don't think any excuse iswarranted for something like
that.
But getting back to ourscenario, you know your
situational awareness Payattention to the lights, pay
(06:34):
attention to people on the road,pay attention to the signs that
tell you that you're enteringand then pay attention to the
ones that tell you that you'reexiting.
There are a couple of schoolzones that are unique in that
they're longer, and SkylineBoulevard is one in particular
because there are three campuseswithin like 100 yards of each
(06:54):
other, if you're lookingdownward from a map.
So therefore the length of theschool zone is a little bit
longer.
I think that one crosses overTrafalgar, but there's a sign
that says you've entered it anduntil you see that sign that
you've exited it, you're in it.
If it's flashing lights, it's20.
That could be a little bit of along stretch, but that's what
(07:16):
it is.
If it's not, if it's during theregular school day, but not
blinking, it's 45.
You can go 10 over and still befine, and then when you exit.
That that doesn't mean reallystep on it and go 20 over
because you're free.
We want traffic safety and goodbehavior modification through
(07:36):
this program and, like you saidearlier, mercedes, it just gives
us a tool to capture that.
It's a force multiplier.
People have asked why don't youjust have officers in those
school zones?
We have, we do.
And now what this does?
This technology because of thestatute, the law change enables
us to use that, so those sameofficers can then go to other
(07:59):
locations and do the samefunction of traffic.
So it's a force multiplier, ifyou will.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Right.
Those officers can now go to anintersection on Del Prado that
may not be a school zone butsees a lot of speeding or other
traffic issues.
So it allows us to broaden ourtraffic enforcement.
And you know, just being frankhere when we talk about this
conversation, obviously the goalhere is overall.
We want the kids to be safe, wewant behavior to be changed and
(08:27):
if we saw no tickets come fromthis and no violations and we
made no money, that would be thegoal.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So anyone that's a win again.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
To be frank, anyone who is complaining about this is
telling us that they're upsetthat they are getting caught for
going more than 10 miles overthe speed limit in a school zone
in a school zone that's one ofthe things that I that I have
heard not directly, but you seeit like on the news or
anecdotally that it's a cashgrab.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I can tell you that it's not.
I don't want it.
I don't.
I don't want the cash, I wantthe safety.
Um, so if, if we could do achallenge where we whittle these
violations down to zero, thatwould be outstanding, because
that just means that people arecomplying.
And when you back out a littlebit and look at the situation
(09:16):
and you drive through theseschool zones, there's a lot of
kids that are walking and ridingbikes.
And in this city, if you lookaround when you're driving, if
you're new to Cape Coral or youforgot, you see these benches
that are by all these bus stops.
And that comes from a younglady, a girl, several years ago,
(09:36):
layla, and she was hit andkilled by a driver when she was
on her way to the bus stop.
So we've had kids that havebeen clipped on their bicycle.
We've had kids that are walkingacross the street that have
gotten hit, and it's just onemore way to get you to slow down
, increase your reaction timeand really get your mind around.
(09:58):
Man, there's a lot of kids hereand I don't see them, but
everybody says I didn't see themwhen they have a tragedy like
that.
So it's just giving you thatopportunity.
Like I said, hopefully we don'tmake any cash on the thing, but
let's talk about that.
What happens if you get aviolation?
Right, you're going to receiveit in the mail.
So I'm driving, I'm not payingattention, or I'm in a different
(10:23):
, I'm running an errand, so I'mon a different, I'm running an
errand, so I'm on a differentpart of my routine, because
there's what 17 of thesethroughout the city.
So if I make a mistake and Ireceive one, it's going to have
a picture of me going through itwith my tag.
If it was me.
I have a couple of options.
I can pay it's $100.
(10:43):
We'll talk about where thatgoes.
Couple of options I can payit's $100.
We'll talk about where thatgoes.
I can say absolutely no way I'mgoing to exercise my right to
go contest this violation,absolutely.
You can elect a hearing and youcan go plead your case to a
magistrate, which is like ajudge in a civil-type hearing.
So you get to go talk to thejudge and say, nope, that's not
(11:04):
what happened, and then you canplead your case.
Or well, that's my car, I'm theregistered owner, but my wife
was driving that.
So I talked to my wife hey,were you driving?
And then it's a decision as afamily I can just pay it or I
can put on the violation thatyou get an affidavit that it
wasn't me, it was my wife, sendit back.
(11:25):
They will reissue the violationto the driver.
Somebody will be heldaccountable for it.
The last thing that's really notpreferred is if you do nothing
and doing nothing is not anoption.
If you do nothing with it,you're like, ah, I'll get to it,
or this is nonsense and, likethe movies, you ball it up and
(11:46):
throw it away In 30 days.
If you haven't either electedto contest it and go to a
hearing or pay it or complete anaffidavit that says it wasn't
me, it's going to gettransferred into a uniform
traffic citation or UTC.
What a UTC is is a ticket, thesame thing that if an officer
pulled you over and it goesthrough the county clerk of
(12:06):
courts.
That could spell troublebecause you could open yourself
up to points.
As they stand Now, there's nopoints on your license.
You are subject to that andit's a higher fine and it could
go into suspension of yourlicense if you don't address it.
So doing nothing is probablythe worst option that you could
take.
So it's a pretty simple processwith that.
And then what were some of theother questions?
(12:28):
Where does the money go?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Where does it go?
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Okay, so you want to take part of that.
Where does it go?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Where does my?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
money go.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I think we get $39 out of every $100.
And that goes specifically backinto traffic enforcement,
traffic safety.
There's a portion that goes tothe state, there's a portion
that goes to the school crossingguards, I think, in the
different school zones theschool district, the school
district.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
So let's talk about two of those, the ones that come
back to us when it comes backto the city the city.
In the statute that allowedthis law or enacted this law, it
spells out when it comes back,it has to go towards law
enforcement and traffic safetystuff.
I can tell you I'm committed toreinvesting this back into
(13:17):
traffic safety More equipment,more radars, more laser vehicles
Depending upon how much thereis, there could be more traffic
officers.
We have paid for theadministration of this program
because it takes manpower toactually run it.
That's covered.
And then school crossing guardswe contract out to an employment
(13:39):
company that does schoolcrossing guards.
They do it all over the stateand, like anything else, their
labor costs have risen.
It's a better economical bangfor your buck, for the taxpayer,
for us in budgeting tooutsource that role.
Well, these fees can be andwill be, applied to that
contract so that those moniesthat would have been budgeted or
(14:02):
allocated over there can beredirected into more traffic
safety things.
So we are 100% investing backinto the business for our share
of it and our business istraffic safety.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Right, and for anyone who, like you said you've
anecdotally heard from one ofthe news, people yesterday or a
couple of days ago said we havepeople who are saying this is
just a cash grab.
What do you have to say aboutthat?
We wouldn't be sitting heredoing a podcast.
We wouldn't be sitting hereposting on social media about it
, warning people, remindingpeople.
We wouldn't be having a mediatown hall and taking their
(14:38):
questions and asking them toplease remind the public that
this is going back into effecton August 11th.
We wouldn't be putting outcommunity messaging, we wouldn't
be having signs about it Ifthis was some sort of money grab
, wouldn't we want to be likeshh, let's make as much money as
possible and not tell peoplewhat we're doing out here.
(14:58):
So the fact that we areliterally I guess not literally
figuratively shouting ateveryone at the top of our lungs
, this is happening.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
You're almost literally yelling.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
I know Well, you should have seen me a couple of
days ago.
I can get pretty fired up aboutthis.
You're right, it's not a secret.
It's not a secret.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
It's very transparent .
It's out in the open.
We're telling you that thisprogram is here because I'm
rooting for you to beat it.
Beat the system, drive thespeed limit, be safe, laugh
every time you go through youdidn't get me.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
That's what I want.
I think that's the not funnypart.
But the funny part that we'veseen about it is people are
trying to figure it out so thatthey can figure out when they
can speed and when they can'tstop.
Just go the speed limit, that'sit.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I did hear that there was a neighborhood where a
neighbor said that people aredriving on parallel side streets
to be able to beat it.
That's kind of silly to mebecause those kids that end up
in the school zone haveoriginated from somewhere and it
may be those side streets.
So you're not really beatingthe system, you're potentially
(16:11):
endangering those kids.
But to be able to beat a Idon't know eighth of a mile
strip of 20 miles an hour,that's silly During the day.
If you're doing it to be ableto go 45, right that's.
Most of the streets are 45.
So 56 and above, you're goingout of your way to be able to go
(16:33):
11, 12, 20 over.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Right, you're not even making up time on the side
streets.
That's what I'm saying.
That's the part that'sridiculous to me.
How fast are you going?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
I'm rooting for people to do it right and I'm
not rooting for that.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
If you don't want to give us your money, we're not
forcing you.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Just follow the law.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
It's about safety.
Slow it down.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
And guess what, if we get complaints that there are a
lot of people speeding on sidestreets, we still have officers
to send over to that area toenforce the side streets too.
But don't make us do that.
That's an absolute waste ofresources, just slow down.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
It's for you.
I know somebody in this is backwhen I was in school.
So I know a classmate who inthe morning was driving to
school it was dark, you know,because the way the times change
and everything and was drivinga little bit too fast and hit a
child and it really obviously itruined that family's life, but
(17:31):
the consequences emotionally forher it was devastating and I'm
sure that's something that shelives with every day.
And she was just a teen driver.
So it there are serious stakes,you know, serious stakes, not
just for the child, which shouldbe enough, but for you.
You don't want to go throughsomething like that.
It's absolutely horrific to bea party to that.
(17:53):
So it's just one more tool.
We want to keep it light, don'twant to preach to people,
that's a heavy topic, but thoseare the stakes that we have is
that it just takes one splitsecond and, let's be honest, the
kids are not always payingattention.
They're on their devices, theyhave their earbuds in, they're
on electric scooters, they'regiving all kinds of challenges
(18:17):
for us to be able to do itsafely.
So by going a little bit sloweryou can kind of help a kid
who's learning how to navigatethe world.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Right and not to mention.
Obviously, this is to keep thekids safe, but we could all sit
here and think of several peoplewe know who've been impacted by
a traffic crash, whether theywere in a crash themselves,
whether their friend was in acrash, or whether they lost
someone in a crash or someonethey know had serious injuries
in a crash.
(18:46):
And speeding directlycorrelates to the probability of
a crash.
So this is not just protectingkids who are walking, kids who
are on their bike.
This is protecting you as adriver as well, and the other
drivers around you, because it'sholding you accountable to
going the speed limit andproviding a quote, unquote
(19:08):
punishment for not going thespeed limit, which will alter
the driver's behaviors, whichwill ultimately keep you safer
on the road.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
We can show it in the data that when people slow down
and when education is the firststep and education dovetails
into enforcement, whichultimately both of those, either
independently or together, willchange driver behavior.
And if that driver behavior ischanged for the better, then our
crashes go down, our injury andfatality crashes go down.
(19:39):
And even absent a school zone.
If you look at our seriouscrashes, our traffic homicide
investigations that we have, agreat majority of them are
speed-related.
There's impaired drivers aswell, but speed is a big factor.
So if it gets your mindsetbehind the wheel a little bit
safer here in these areas, we'rehopeful too that that might
(20:02):
translate out into other areasand other times of the day and
night day or night that willmake you a little bit safer.
So key takeaways for me,nothing's changed here.
You're driving, go the speedlimit or pretty close to it.
Keep an eye on yoursurroundings.
If you enter a school zone andthe lights are flashing, it's 20
.
Right, slow down.
(20:23):
If it's during the school dayand the lights are not flashing,
it's the regular speed limit.
But the cheat code if you'redoing this is if you hover
around the posted speed limit asyour default, you're never
going to encounter red speed.
You're never going to get oneof those funny things in the
mail and you're never going tojoin that exclusive club of
(20:46):
receiving one of thoseviolations.
And that's what we want.
We were looking for that.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Absolutely.
And if you have any questionsand you're listening to this or
watching this that we didn'taddress if you go to CapeCopscom
, right on the homepage, we havea button you can click that
says Red Speed Cameras.
That's where all of ourfrequently asked questions are.
And if, for some reason, Ithink we've done a pretty good
job of tailoring it to thequestions we've received in our
(21:10):
area but if, for some reason,your question is not answered on
there like, of course, if youreceived a violation and you
have questions about yourviolation specifically we aren't
going to have those answers.
The number for Red Speed isright there on that page for you
to call them up and get thosequestions answered 100%.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
You two, I'll give you credit.
You've really curated that FAQsection on the website for Cape
Coral-based questions.
We launched this thing at theend of the school year last year
.
There are stock FAQs providedby the company Redspeed, but we
have taken it further and, ofthe data that we've gotten based
on the questions, we'vetailored it.
(21:47):
So almost every single questionthat you could have is right
there in plain English.
Even I can understand it.
And then anything beyond thatprominently displayed is the
number to Red Speed.
They're the subject matterexperts in any technical
questions that are beyond what'salready put on CapeCopscom.
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
That's the goal.
The goal is to have absolutelyzero citations that we have come
in.
That's the goal, and we needyour help, the community's help,
to be able to do that.
That's it.
That's it.
Simple stuff, all right?
Well, anything help, thecommunity's help to be able to
do that, that's it.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
That's it, simple stuff All right.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Well, anything else Chief?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
No, that's it.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Good to be back.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Good to have the gang back together.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Yes, summer break is over.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Doesn't feel like it, it's almost over.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
We have a couple more weeks, a couple more weeks.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
August 11th is is when all of the cameras will be
back up and operational.
There were a couple that wereon here and there for summer
school, but now all the oneslisted on our website, if you go
to the Red Speed FAQ, will beoperational again.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Give me 10 seconds to not just Red Speed, but the
first day of school brings.
Oh yeah, car line is back in myneighborhood.
There's going to be a lot ofcars in the beginning dropping
off and then in the afternoonand there's people that start
stacking up early and, just soyou know, the campuses are
secure.
(23:10):
So if you get there, if LGElets out at three and you get
mom, dad, grandma, grandpashowing up to pick somebody up
at I don't know 2.15 to line up,the campus is locked.
They can't get in.
So they can go up to the gate.
They are allowed to startqueuing in the road and they
will queue.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
They will queue, so be ready for that and it will
back up.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
That is allowed.
It's a little slow the firstweek or two of school.
The schools are getting used tothat flow Again.
There's new staff at the school, there's new students there's,
there's, there's a lot of new.
So, trust me, every year almost30 years I've seen it by the
(23:56):
second week of school.
It's routine, it's smooth, itflies.
But the first two weeks you'relike this is absolutely what in
the world.
So there's a lot coming onAugust 11th and we have
promotional testing that day, soit'll be a buzz in here too.
Oh boy, as a tease for anotherKip Cop test.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
That's awesome, yeah.
So just be patient, everyone bepatient.
We say it every year Just bepatient.
Well, thank you, chief, you gotit.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Thank you, ladies.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Yeah, thank you Everybody out there.
Slow down and stay safe.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
We'll see you next time.
Have a great weekend.
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