Oneida County Improving School Zone Traffic Safety Through New Speed Monitoring System

County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. announced today that the county Office of Traffic Safety has implemented a new school zone speed monitoring system that has been tracking violators who will soon be notified of their actions.

"This initiative is about protecting our children and ensuring the safety of everyone in our school zones," Picente said. "The data we’ve gathered makes it clear that speeding in these areas is a serious issue, and we are taking proactive steps to address it. These warnings serve as a wake-up call—slow down and obey the speed limits before a tragedy occurs."

Two speed monitoring units were dispatched in school zones in New Hartford and Whitesboro last month, and since then, have captured drivers greatly exceeding the speed limits in those areas.

In just the time period of March 20-24, 2025, 54 vehicles were recorded traveling 51-65 mph in a 25-mph school zone in Whitesboro and 517 were recorded going 36-45 mph in a 20-mph school zone in New Hartford.

The speed monitors will be utilized in other schools zones throughout the county in the future.

Effective immediately, hundreds of speed notices will be mailed out to the individuals whom the vehicles in violation are registered to. Each notice will have the date, time and location of the offense, the vehicle’s license plate number and the posted speed limit and the speed limit the offender was recorded traveling at.

The correspondence serves as a warning, not a traffic citation. Information from the warning will be shared with local law enforcement and convictions of the traffic infractions could result in a significant fine.