Sixty-eight drivers were caught speeding through Bradenton school zones on the first day of class, a jump from 50 violations logged on opening day last year, according to police, who say the numbers point to a basic lapse in personal responsibility behind the wheel rather than a shortage of warning signs or enforcement cameras.
Officers cited drivers on Aug. 10, and police released footage showing past violators blowing through school zones at more than 25 mph over the posted limit. Just three schools — Sea Breeze Elementary, Rogers Bullock Elementary and Ballard Elementary — accounted for 40 of the day’s violations.
Bradenton Police Chief Josh Cramer put the blame squarely on driver inattention rather than road design, noting that the department has pressed the Florida Department of Transportation for years to lower speeds on Manatee Avenue East, a state-controlled corridor he described as “a bit of a raceway” as commuters funnel to and from the interstate. “It’s really, we’ve come to find that people aren’t paying attention to speed,” Cramer said.
In response, the city is adding a new speed camera at Manatee Elementary on that same stretch — expanding an automated enforcement system that will only grow the number of citations generated and the revenue collected once it goes live. The department says residents will get 60 days’ notice before the camera is activated, though an exact date has not been set. Each citation in a Bradenton enforcement zone carries a $100 fine.
The problem isn’t confined to Manatee County. Just to the north, St. Petersburg police issued 20 speeding citations and one school-bus violation over the first two days of the Pinellas County school year, a reminder that the surge in distracted, rushed driving during the back-to-school rush is a regional habit, not a Bradenton-specific one.
Florida law requires drivers on two-lane roads and multi-lane roads with a center turn lane to stop for a stopped school bus in either direction; on divided highways with a physical median, only traffic approaching from behind the bus must stop.
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