SUFFOLK, Va. — The last round of traffic enforcement cameras is going up across Suffolk.
It’s part of a city initiative issued last year to add speeding cameras to work and school zones, attach cameras to school buses to catch drivers illegally passing a stopped school bus, and implement red light cameras across the city.
“At first, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was just one of those things that you would expect,” Windsor resident Ronald Brinkley told 13News Now.
“It doesn’t really bother me,” said Suffolk resident Thomas Johnson. “A lot of people say they’re just a moneymaker.”
Johnson said he learned his lesson and welcomes red light cameras coming to the city.
“I think it will help the city," he said. "Certainly slowed a lot of people down.”
City officials will install red light cameras at nine intersections. One of them is already up at Lake Prince Drive and Pruden Boulevard. The 30-day warning period for that intersection is set to begin Feb. 5.
When the warning period ends, violators will face a $50 fine. City staff said the cameras are meant to increase public safety. However, drivers like Brinkley think otherwise.
“In the world we live in, everybody’s going to do what they’re going to do anyway. We’re all outlaws in our own sense,” Brinkley said.
Brinkley said he’d rather see police officers patrolling areas where drivers are known to speed.
“It doesn’t do anything good for safety," he said. "It takes more officers off the street and puts them behind a desk somewhere.”
However, Johnson hopes these cameras serve a purpose.
“I’d rather see a lot of them where they know the fatalities and the speeders and all like that are at,” Johnson said
The remaining eight intersections will initiate their warning periods soon. Public Works will have messaging boards at intersections to notify drivers. During this warning period, individuals who violate red light rules will receive a cautionary letter sent to their homes.
You can find more information on the city's website.