ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Drivers traveling through school zones in Orlando will see something new as students head back to class: cameras designed to catch drivers speeding near schools.<\/p>\n
The City of Orlando\u2019s school zone speed camera program is going into effect, with cameras installed near schools across the city, including Rock Lake Elementary School, Innovation Middle School and Boone High School.<\/p>\n
The city approved the program last year, putting Orlando among a growing number of Florida communities using automated cameras to enforce school zone speed limits.<\/p>\n
But the cameras are going live as similar programs continue to face legal challenges and questions over how Florida\u2019s school speed camera law should be interpreted.<\/p>\n
Orlando moves ahead as Osceola County suspends program<\/p>\n
Orlando approved its program shortly after Osceola County suspended its own school zone speed camera program following a Channel 9 investigation.<\/p>\n
9 Investigates raised questions about the placement of some of Osceola County\u2019s cameras, including whether some were positioned outside legally defined school zones and whether those locations complied with requirements under Florida law.<\/p>\n
During the process of selecting a vendor for Orlando\u2019s program, city leaders chose the same company involved in the Osceola County program. When Channel 9 questioned the city about that decision last year, Orlando officials stood by their selection.<\/p>\n
Osceola\u2019s cameras were cleared, but now a judge has asked if the devices inside the cameras are approved by the state.<\/p>\n
The controversy in Osceola County is only part of a larger debate surrounding school speed cameras across Florida.<\/p>\n
Since 2025, school zone cameras have captured hundreds of thousands of drivers speeding near Florida schools. At the same time, legal challenges have resulted in some tickets being thrown out and some programs being suspended, while attorneys and local governments have called on state lawmakers to clarify portions of the law.<\/p>\n
Ticket Clinic attorney Ira Karmelin said the disputes are likely to continue until lawmakers provide more clarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the Florida Legislature is not known for writing clear statutes,\u201d Karmelin said. \u201cAnd because the statutes are not clear, they leave it open to ambiguity, leave it open to arguments. Until they dot all the I\u2019s and cross all the T\u2019s, there are going to be fights on this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attorneys defending the camera programs have argued that school zone speed detection systems are exempt from certain state design requirements that apply to traditional radar units.<\/p>\n
Opponents disagree, arguing that if lawmakers intended to exempt the systems from those requirements, the Legislature should have explicitly written that exemption into the law.<\/p>\n
Those competing interpretations have become another front in the ongoing legal battle over Florida\u2019s rapidly expanding use of automated school zone enforcement.<\/p>\n
For Orlando drivers, however, the immediate message is much simpler: watch your speed.<\/p>\n
With cameras now installed near schools across the city, drivers traveling through Orlando school zones could face a citation if the cameras record them traveling above the speed threshold established under Florida law. Right now you will not be issued ticket. The warning period starts in September. But later this fall violations will begin\u2026at $100 a violation.<\/p>\n
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