Lawmaker looking to make rules over school zone cameras more uniform. Right now, they’re not

ATLANTA — A Georgia lawmaker wants to make sure the laws governing school zone cameras are more uniform across the state.

While we see similar cameras in school zones across the state, things like warning signs, fines, and even how you challenge a ticket are different all across Georgia.

“I think the program has received a lot of bad publicity and rightfully so,” said state Rep. J. Collins, R-Villa Rica.

Collins chairs the House Public Safety Committee and on Tuesday he asked that committee to take a look at passing a bill that would make the existing school zone camera law more uniform across Georgia.

“I want to bring some uniformity to the legislation. I want to make sure whether you are in North Georgia, or South Georgia, or West Georgia or East Georgia, that school camera enforcement is the same,” Collins told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot.

Right now, it isn’t. Things like warning signs, hours of operation, even fines are not the same across the state.

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Collins worries some municipalities are using the cameras to generate revenue rather than safer school zones.

He said some lawmakers flat-out hate the cameras, which helped stall a bill during last year’s session.

“I think we should definitely have them in this day and age. Everything is caught on camera, and it definitely comes in handy when things occur,” parent Jalisa Brown said.

Brown thinks school zone safety cameras are genius. But she told Elliot that she agrees the laws regulating them need to be uniform across the state.

“I think they should all be uniform. I think that’ll be genius, too, and that it all just comes together, and it be across the board. I agree with that much,” Brown said.

Collins said he’ll make the push to get this bill passed during the upcoming legislative session.

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