CHARLES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Drivers who speed in school zones equipped with speed cameras in Charles City County will begin receiving citations starting on Monday. This safety initiative for the county's school division aims to help keep kids safe and prevent crashes. These cameras were installed earlier in 2024. The Charles City County Sheriff’s Office implemented a warning period from Dec. 2 to 31, 2024. Instead of receiving citations, speeding drivers received warnings by mail. According to the Charles City Sheriff’s Office, there were a total of 57 warnings issued during that period. Starting on Jan. 6, citations will be issued to speeding drivers when the lights are flashing from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m. on weekdays. These citations will come with a fine. Dog rescued from cruelty dies after New Kent spends thousands to save him Prior to making the decision to place cameras in school zones, the county conducted local speed studies. These studies, carried out in March 2024, captured a total of 7,835 drivers over that period. Over 20% (1,573) of them were speeding, according to the county. Among them, over 600 violators were driving 15 to 20 mph over the speed limit, while another 426 violators were driving at least 21 mph over the speed limit. This program is similar to many others throughout Virginia. Recently, Chesterfield County announced that it will be placing speed cameras in over a dozen school zones. The cities of Richmond, Hopewell and Petersburg previously launched similar initiatives. For more information on Charles City County's school zone speed cameras, contact the sheriff's office at 804-829-9265.