New feature with 2013.20: Garmin has added school zone speed limits

Here in the SoCal area, I have personally NOT seen any changes in the speed limit displayed on the GPS when driving. It may be that the data that Garmin is collecting/harvesting (by users who opt-in to the program) is actually getting distributed. For example, user-corrected speed limits which are being entered into the GPS while driving.

School Zone on my 3790 and 2595 either. Contacted Garmin and was told that none of their GPSs have School Zone POI in them. They said that the POI School Zone must have been downloaded from third party poi.

Is it possible that this information is only available on certain models?

The speed did not change on my 1450LMT with all the latest maps and FW updates this morning. The 15 mph speed limit was active and the local law was watching today. He already had an unwilling participant pulled over.

If Garmin gets school zones (during school hours) perfected, I wonder if other POIs can be enabled only at certain times...

Farmers Markets is one that comes to mind. It's easy enough to go to a Farmers Market POI, but they are usually only open in the evenings or on weekends. It would be helpful to flag 'only open Tuesday and Saturday from 6 to 9 from July to October'.

Larry

I checked this out on my Nuvi but the speed limit did not change in school zone during school hours.

So what have we decided? Did Garmin add that funciton or didn't they? Does it work on some models but not others?

Phil

...it's a great idea. It just needs an audible alert to tell you to make sure you're off the phone and slowing down.

Everyone is stating, no one has it except the op who reported that he had it.

If the farmers market poi's are loaded, you could manually edit them one by one with the dates/times they are open. Then, when you touch on sucha poi, it will show you the info you entered.

No active school zone limit noted on my unit. I wish they would give the 2595 the feature that allows editing the speed limits.

My 1450 does not either, and I went on purpose through several school zones.

No biggie, we can't just let out gps's do everything can we now

Maybe it's easier just to look through the windshield.

The school zones feature does not appear to be working in Northern Virginia.

That's too bad, although one of the apps on my phone alerts me when I'm in a school zone, although it does it regardless of time of day. And that's a good thing, because the city is going to be putting speed cameras ("it's for the children") near parks and schools.

We need speed limits in canada ;(

A great feature

My 3590LMT had no changes here in Colorado Springs. I drove through several school zones to test it.

After reading the posts on this thread I today on a Sunday took my Garmin 1490 with me on a wine run.
I did not hook it to the car and used the battery only.
As I passed Roosevelt High School beside the freeway in DSM the alarm went off. In a red rectangular sign it said 35mph school zone but the freeway speed was 60mph.
Right after that the eastbound speed camera warning went off but I was going west.
The speed should be changed from 55mph to 60mph at that camera.
On my return trip the speed camera went of followed by the school warning. I think the next time I will remove my SD card to eliminate my POI's.
My wife hates that warning but we have not gotten any other while we have driven from DSM to CA or AZ so my next thing is to take every POI file I have on my GPS and convert it to kml and see if anything shows up at that place on Google Earth.

I have Nuvi 1350T with 2013.20 map and latest software, drove through several school zones during the school speed limit time, but no change in the school zone speed limit.

Haven't tried a route yet with the new feature but I will inform when I do.

I took this video with my phone while I was driving through a school zone today. It was at 2:30 pm (so the school zone was being enforced). Notice how the speed limit changes as I pass through the school zone and changes as i pass out of it. When I drive through that area any other time of the day, the speed limit displayed on the gps stays at 35 mph. Here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=ZXe7tOTaF3k&feature=youtu.be

Sorry for the shaky quality. I tried my best while driving.

rame1012, I finally found it. The link above needs a ? between the watch and the v. With luck, this will work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXe7tOTaF3k&feature=youtu.be

I have to admit this has me convinced since you also state that that during non-school-hours, it stays at 35. But it's odd that no one else can see this except kurzemnieks on a nuvi 1490. Can you give us a start/stop location so we can simulate your actual route at various times of day?

I drive through 2 of them every day at around 3pm....nothing. I've never seen this change in a school zone.

Sorry for the link issues. A good start location would be 518 Lee Drive, Baton Rouge, LA and route to 2220 Lee Drive, Baton Rouge, LA. Route between 2 and 4 pm on weekdays. If I have some kind of POI file that is giving me this information, I am not aware of it.

I don't think a POI can alter the speed limit display. I can see how it could give you an alert, but it seems to me that a change in the speed limit display would come from the map data.

When I simulate the route on my 2595 (with the time set circa 2:30pm) the speed limit changes from 35 to 20 mph and a school zone alert pops up before entering the zone.

See http://goo.gl/nh0c3 for screenshots.

Thank you for confirming this! Hopefully this information shows up on other units and Garmin will have more school zone information integrated into their maps in future updates.

You're welcome rame1012. Thanks for finding this unusual feature.

Tried it on my older 760, and the speed limit also changes from 35 to 20 mph. There is no speed zone alert though. Also tried with time set to after supper and the speed remained at 35 mph (same as the 2595).

See http://goo.gl/WYtVk for nuvi 760 screenshots.

Is there any chance that our three users who have seen this school zone result have a nuvi that either came with a free trial or they installed (free trial or paid) the Cyclops Safety Cameras:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=69781

Back in July 2011, mgarledge and VicMatson reported

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/27357?page=2

that School Zone alerts were occurring on their devices related to adding the Safety Camera files from Garmin.

If so, I'd imagine that it's easier to add a speed limit change to that subscription than building it into the City Navigator data. It's still pretty amazing that the presence of alerts are also tied to time-of-day.

Could the folks seeing these alerts and speed limit changes check and see if they have a USCanadaCyclopsSample.gpi or similar file in their nuvi (possibly in their nuvi's POI directory)? If so, a real test might be to rename the file to USCanadaCyclopsSample.gpi.disabled, then repeat your testing to see if the school alerts and speed limit changes disappear.

2 years ago, cyclops was doing a free trial through Garmin for their RLC camera database. I took the free trial and I never bought the subscription, but I never deleted the Uscanadacyclopssample.gpi file from my GPS. I no longer receive RLC alerts, but there might be some glitch that keeps the school zone information associated with the gpi file. That would explain why me and Wassup are seeing the speed limit change and no one else is. Good catch CraigW.

Many new nuvi models are shipped with the trial file present. My "new" refurb 2460LMT has the file and the default setting is for the Garmin Safety Cameras to be Enabled so many folks may have the file lurking on their devices, too.

From the Cyclops page, I see that the free trial is still offered (along with the Annual and the One-Time subscriptions).

I think I've read that even after a subscription or trial expires, the data on the nuvi will still function--they just can't be updated.

Check your Alerts setting and see if Garmin Safety Cameras is Enabled or Disabled.

Nice idea. But will it pop up fast enough?

No Cyclops file on either the 760 or 2595 (now and in the past). Both units have Proximity Alerts set for Custom POIs only.

Any other thoughts?

While in deep thought about other things, I decided to do some more observations about this subject.
I took my 1490 and 1450 on a road test. Both were using battery power. The 1490 had my SD card with my POIs and the 1450 was wiped clean of all POIs.
As I approached one high school the 1490 dinged with a 35mph speed limit warning but the 1450 was silent. I then drove down two exits and then took the SD card and put it in the 1450 and drove back. The 1450 showed the 35mph warning.
I then drove over to another school and the 1450 again showed the 35mph warning and the 1490 was silent.
Later while driving home from a store the 1450 dinged again by a school building that had been closed for over 10 years. I thought maybe it was the red light/speed file but I had deleted it for this test.
I then took all my files and converted them to KML and loaded it into Google Earth and there was no point close to these schools so I am baffled why my card with my POIs makes a difference.
I will try to figure this out but will not be in a hurry.

I noticed today that my 885 gave me a "Speed Zone" warning.

I don't recall it doing that before.

Tried this on my new (July 2012) nuvi 40 and got the same results. No alert and I do have the USCanadaCyclopsSample.gpi 10/5/2011 file that came on the unit.

Drove through some local school zones (Fort Wayne, IN) yesterday and did not get any display of a speed limit reduction.

I never got the school warnings on my 765t with the POI Factory poi's. I downloaded the free trial of US Canada Cyclops.
Still did not get the school warnings.
They must not be on the map for my area.
I am 35 miles south of Chicago.
Maybe they will be in the next update.
That's okay, I'm too old for school anyway.

The more we look into this, the odder it seems. The conclusion now seems to be that it's not tied to Cyclops but is somehow built into the latest map update and its interaction with devices' firmware and other system files.

If true, it may be a lot like the appearance of Speed Limits on our devices. Initially, Speed Limits were not shown. Then with newer map updates, speed limits started along interstates and other major highways. Now speed limits appear for a majority of roads. If this is a new feature, it may only be seen on a tiny portion of North America's school zones with the current 2013.20 map. If so, maybe we'll see more of this with future map updates. The other thing to watch for is which devices will be able to display these warnings. The fact that an old discontinued nuvi 760 can see them bodes well for these warnings to appear on a majority of Garmin vehicle GPS models in use today.

My 2595 has never had any optional RLC trials. I drive a 20 mile commute on a local secondary route through about six different small towns. There are many school zones along the route and lots of (strict) cops watching them, especially in the morning. I'll bring along my 2595 for the ride and report back. If it doesn't give me any warnings along this "high-density" route, the conclusion would have to be that this feature has been selectively rolled out by Garmin with limited availability at this time. It would be a great feature to have as a few of the schools are set well back from the main road off little side streets and you'd never even know they were there except for the little (small) "school" signs. Even so, the cops still strictly enforce them.

I really think this is a very new but very undeveloped feature associated with the map data. Like speed limits, lane assist, junction view, ect., this feature may be very sporadic now, but at some point in the future, it will become quite common. Everyone continue to post when you notice this feature in your area. And don't listen to Garmin tech support. They don't know about this feature yet because it is not an advertised feature as of now. It probably will be in the future.

The map routing behavior is different for HOV hours vs non HOV hours, so adding times for school zones isn't crazy. However, the various holidays, school vacation schedules, etc. make it very difficult to do reliably.

My last Garmin update did not include and school info, but I did download the POI from here for the northeast US, kind of annoying in the Philly area with so many schools around, I may just get rid of it and pay better attention to the school zone signs.

I have gone through several ones here in the Phoenix area without any alerts?

Doesn't work in SW DFW area. No surprise, Garmin doesn't know where a lot of the schools are.

For example, as you can see in my posted video, the speed limit changed when I entered the school zone, but there was no "alert" so to speak. I just happened to notice it one day. On the other hand, Wassup showed us that he got an audible alert, a visual alert, and the speed limit changed as well. To know if the feature is really there or not in your area, you might just have to glance over at the speed limit indicator when passing through a school zone during school zone hours.

Yes indeed, Wassup's 2595 showing the alert was even more unusual than the speed limit change on his 760 and your 765T.

The data must be there in the current map for a very tiny number of school zones right now given most folks' inability to see them at schools where they live. The only way most of us will be able to test our units is with a route simulation during school zone hours as you've described earlier in Baton Rouge LA as we pass by the Rob't. E Lee HS.

I also agree with you that at this point, any statements from Garmin Tech Support about this should not be believed.

I've finally simulated the "rame1012 route" in Baton Rouge with my nuvi 750, 855 and 2460, each with the current 2013.20 maps at different times of day. My ancient nuvi 750 and 855 show the speed limit change to 20 mph during school hours. During non-school hours, the speed limit remains at 35 mph. This must be built into the map data since neither has the Cyclops file.

My nuvi 2460 also shows the 20 mph school speed limit along with a boing boing audio alert and an icon for the school during school hours (tested at 2:30 PM Baton Rouge time) but during non school zone hours, there are no alerts or speed limit changes. The icon and alert for the school zone are suspiciously like the Cyclops redlight camera info that appears later on Lee Dr a little beyond address 2220 so it's possible that the audio and visual warnings are from Cyclops data (for nuvis with the Cyclops file) but the speed limit data (with time-of-day changes) are built into the map.

rame1012's initial thought at the origin of this thread is completely correct. I just wonder now how many school zones are covered with the current map version. If future map updates include most to all school zones, this will be a wonderful feature! Kudos to Garmin for this!

I have to admit that when most to all school zones get built into future City Navigator NA NT map updates, I'll be tempted to buy the Cyclops annual subscription just to gain the school zone data.

rame1012's test school also generates alerts with the 2013.10 maps as well as 2013.10. So I wonder when Garmin snuck this new feature in...

Also, if you'd like more test data, I've found half a dozen other schools in Baton Rouge and New Orleans that trigger alerts. See the next post for details.

Here is a list of schools I've found that show reduced speed limits and school zone alerts (newer Nuvis) during school hours:

Baton Rouge
Audubon Elementary
Christa McAuliffe
Mayfair Elementary (found by rame1012)
Second Baptist Grammar School

New Orleans
Ben Franklin Elementary
Lafayette Elementary
Stuart Hall School for Boys

Good to know that this feature is working in my area with multiple schools, which means that Garmin is adding this feature metro area by metro area, which is similar to the way they added lane assist and speed limits. Don't know why New Orleans and Baton Rouge got this information before other larger metro areas, but I'm not complaining.