Atlanta drivers incorrectly ticketed by speed cameras
Warning lights intended to alert drivers when speed cameras issue tickets were not working. Now, some drivers will get refunds.
ATLANTA, Ga. (InvestigateTV) - When Natalie Patterson checked her mailbox this past October, she found an unexpected bill from an unexpected sender: a $75 citation for speeding.
While the ticket featured the Atlanta Police Department’s logo, it came from a private company contracted by Atlanta Public Schools to operate its school zone speed detection cameras off Metropolitan Parkway in southwest Atlanta. The cameras are installed near Kindezi at Gideons Elementary School, one of 10 schools using enforcement cameras operated by Verra Mobility.
According to her ticket, Patterson was clocked at 37 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour speed zone. The city uses blinking warning lights along the road to alert drivers when the cameras issue tickets, but Paterson doesn’t seeing them flashing.
Even more confusing to Patterson, the school isn’t on the road where the cameras are installed. It’s located about three blocks away in a neighborhood adjacent to Metropolitan Parkway. “When it sent me the [ticket] about the school zone, I didn’t even know what school was about,” said Patterson. “I know I’m not the only one.”
Atlanta Councilmember Antonio Lewis received a ticket, too. “You’re looking around like, ‘Where’s Waldo?’ for the school,” said Lewis, adding that his father also received a ticket.
According to a statement from Atlanta Public Schools, officials learned on Oct. 22, 2024 the warning lights “were not set as scheduled for enforcement timing.” Drivers were being ticketed when the warning lights were not flashing.
The Atlanta Department of Transportation and the Georgia Department of Transportation set the warning lights’ flash schedule based on the school’s schedule.
The school system said the city of Atlanta will “send a full refund to those identified motorists” who were incorrectly ticketed. According to the city’s finance department, $3,188,93 in speed citations were captured by Verra Mobility.
According to city records provided by its department of finance, the cameras generated $3.1 million in revenue from Sept. 18, 2023, to Oct. 23, 2024. After being notified that the warning lights were not working on Oct. 22, the city fixed the issue the next day.
But Patterson and Lewis said fixing the warning lights isn’t enough. The only sign providing the times when the cameras ticket drivers isn’t on Metropolitan Parkway, but on a neighborhood street that most drivers don’t see.
Since state lawmakers approved a measure allowing cities to install school zone speed protection cameras about five years ago, the number of cameras have exploded, from 39 permits for cameras approved in 2019 to 290 last year. Public records reveal the cameras have generated more than $112 million in revenue for Georgia municipalities.
The tickets are civil penalties; they don’t impact drivers’ licenses, but if left unpaid, drivers can’t renew their Georgia vehicle registrations. According to the Georgia Department of Revenue, in September, that happened to 133,000 people.
Revenue generated by citations issued by the cameras in Atlanta is split between the school system, the city and the camera operator. The city and the Atlanta Public Schools share 66 percent of the revenue, while the vendor gets 34 percent.
“The state legislature has to find a way to fix this,” Lewis said. “The power that they gave to the school boards right here, I think, needs to be checked. Sometimes we throw spaghetti on the wall and it’s not the kind that’s going to stick.”
The warning lights are now working correctly. We asked the city’s Department of Transportation if it plans to install a sign on Metropolitan Parkway clearly showing the times of enforcement, but calls and emails were not returned.
State lawmakers are expected to take up legislation next year that could potentially ban the cameras.
Here are four options to appeal or contest an Atlanta school zone speed-detection camera citation.
- Submit a request for istrative review.
- To request an in-person istrative hearing, drivers should sign a form attached to their citation called “Hearing Request Form” and mail it to: PO Box 22091, Temple, AZ 85285. Include your NOTICE number and PIN displayed on the front of your ticket.
- Email: [email protected]
- Customer service number: 1-866-790-4111
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