Fife to turn on its first school-zone speed cameras Friday

FIFE, Wash. -- Police say hundreds of people speed near Fife High School every day, and they want to put a stop to it before a child gets seriously hurt.

Brian Layton lives next to a busy road that borders the school and says speeders put his children's lives at risk.

"It’s just a concern. Kids are out here. We’ve got a park out here," Layton said. "They come around the corners up here and sometimes it’s just way too fast."

Fife police know speeding is an issue next to the high school, which borders two major roads in town, 20th Avenue and Valley Avenue.

On Friday, the city will turn on its first school-zone speed enforcement cameras on those streets.

"We did a study and we found out in a very short period we had almost 1,900 violations in the morning and in the afternoon when our school zones were active," said Assistant Police Chief Dave Woods.

When the warning lights are flashing before and after school, traffic enforcement cameras will snap pictures of the license plates of drivers who are speeding.

Violators will receive warnings for the remainder of this school year. In the fall, those warnings become tickets that can reach $250.