BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Blacksburg Town Council held a work session to discuss the next steps in their process of bringing speed enforcement cameras to town.
“The goal is not to punish people for speeding but rather prevent speeding in the first place,” said Liam Watson, a member of the Blacksburg Town Council.
Council members said they are looking to add speed enforcement cameras to monitor travelers before and after school times. Those going ten miles per hour over the speed limit, will receive a civil fine.
“The amount of traffic has not slowed down, it has actually gotten more, with more people moving to Blacksburg and the surrounding areas,” said Todd Brewster, chief of the Blacksburg Police Department. “It’s creating a lot more safety issues in our school zones due to the increase in traffic.”
They said other areas are already using this technology, and are seeing positive results.
“[The] closest one, I think, around here is Wytheville, big change there, wythe county,” said Lawrence Spencer, the town Attorney. “It seems to work. There are a lot of communities using this.”
Watson said one thing that he likes about this, is that it is a civil penalty, and so it will not go on somebody’s record.
“What’s important to note is that it is just a citation, it’s not going to be points on your license,” said Watson. “It’s not going to show up in any kind of background check, it is just a civil penalty that individuals are able to contest.”
They said the next steps are to approve their draft, and then it won’t be voted on until June.
They said before anything is finalized, there will be a period for public comment.