Lakeland approves plan to eliminate fatal, serious injury crashes by 2040

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Published  March 17, 2025 4:51pm EDT
FOX 13 News
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Lakeland 'Vision Zero' aims to end deadly crashes

FOX 13's Carla Bayron explains that Lakeland is implementing school zone cameras and red-light cameras.

The Brief

    • The Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to eliminate fatal and serious injury crashes by 2040, was unanimously approved by Lakeland commissioners.
    • As part of the plan, city commissioners will consider the approval of school zone safety cameras.
    • Commissioners will also consider expanding red-light camera locations.

LAKELAND, Fla. - The City of Lakeland has taken a large step towards making its roads, neighborhoods and school zones safer.

The Vision Zero Action Plan, approved unanimously by commissioners Monday morning, aims to eliminate fatal and serious injury crashes by 2040.

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"We have a Vision Zero Committee that started in 2023 and, since then, we've looked at crash data over the last five years," said Traffic Operations Manager Tess Schwartz. 

By the numbers:

In 2024 alone, the city experienced:

  • 19 fatalities
  • 84 serious injuries
  • 4,801 total crashes

As part of the plan, city commissioners will consider the approval of school zone safety cameras that capture drivers traveling 10 mph over the posted speed limit. The technology became enforceable in and around school districts after Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation back in 2023. 

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"When we looked at the existing speeds, there was a lot of speeding, more than 600 at one school location," said Schwartz. "We're hoping that number will go down as people stop speeding in school zones."

A vehicle speed study conducted by Verra Mobility in May 2024 calculated nearly 3,000 school zone speed limit violations per day within the city.

Dig deeper:

Additionally, commissioners will consider expanding red-light camera locations, which take a picture of the vehicle and its license plate.

"We looked at where we're having angle crashes, which are the types that typically happen when people run red lights, so we looked at where we were having those that resulted in injuries, and so we recommended new locations based on that data," said Schwartz. 

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Three of those locations include:

  • Memorial Boulevard at Brunell Parkway
  • Florida Ave at George Jenkins Blvd
  • MLK Jr Ave at George Jenkins Blvd

The red light cameras and school speed zone cameras would be budgeted for the next fiscal year.

Lastly, the plan includes a city-wide speed limit study to determine if the speed limit in certain neighborhoods should be reduced down to 20 mph.

What's next:

The city is searching for additional grants, including federal safety grants, to implement these safety projects.

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