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| Mid-block crosswalk on N 175th, half a block from Meridian Park Elementary Photo by Oliver J. Moffat |
By Oliver J Moffat
The Shoreline city council will again discuss school zone traffic safety cameras at the Monday, Feb 23 meeting. Unlike neighboring cities, Shoreline still has no traffic cameras.
Every school day in Shoreline, over 3000 drivers violate the speed limit at schools while children are present.
According to a 2025 report from the city, over one thousand speeders per day exceeded the 20 mph limit in front of Meridian Park Elementary while the school zone lights are flashing. And 59% of all drivers speed faster than 30 mph in that Meridian Park school zone.
Last year, the city council directed the city to move forward with school zone speed cameras at Meridian Park elementary.
As required by state law, the city completed an equity impact analysis for the proposed cameras.
Under state law, fines are cut by half for recipients of public assistance, and judges can lower fines based on a recipient’s ability to pay. Any excess revenue must be spent on meaningful traffic safety improvements in poor neighborhoods with the most dangerous roads.
Under the proposed ordinance, photos can only be taken if the car is speeding, only photos of the car and the license plate can be captured, and the images and data can only be used by the city for cutting tickets.
Traffic cameras are now common around the region: Edmonds, Lynnwood, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell, and Seattle all have them. But not Shoreline.
Two years ago, the Shoreline council debated Traffic Cameras after reviewing a Traffic Report which showed record high pedestrian, fatal and serious injury crashes.
At that 2024 meeting, Meridian Park parents and neighbors told the council about the daily horror they face crossing 175th street with children. They also brought a petition signed by 180 parents and neighbors asking the city to install traffic cameras in front of Meridian Park elementary.
Information on attending the city council meeting and providing comments is available on the city’s website.
The statistics showing just how many drivers are speeding in Shoreline school zones are alarming! Drivers need to pay more attention to where they are driving, and slow down in school zones. These cameras should be deployed at every school in the city as soon as possible to start getting a handle on this problem.
ReplyDeleteAs for the cost of the tickets that will be issued if the cameras are deployed, the state law that limits the cost to $145 needs to be revised. $145 isn't nearly high enough to reflect the seriousness of this problem. $1,000 would be more appropriate, especially for repeat offenders.
This raises a few questions: If over one thousand speeders per day exceeded the 20 mph limit in front of Meridian Park Elementary, then how many accidents due to excess speed have been reported on that section of roadway? The 2022-2023 traffic report shows 1 serious injury collision on that roadway for the period 2018-2023, at the intersection of Ashworth and N 175th St. And what is the accident rate in school zones city wide, if over 3000 drivers violate the speed limit at schools while children are present? And since when did we start adjusting penalties based on an individuals socio-economic status? Finally, N 175th St is a major arterial, and for those of us west of I-5 is the only reliable route to the freeway since the N145th street roundabout construction has choked that route up. Perhaps it’s time to consider a pedestrian overpass?
ReplyDeleteLet's use the $78mm per annum in speed fines to do away with our school levies at the least.
DeleteWe can also save roughly $200k for Christmas lights along Aurora between 175th and 180th. The city said one of the reasons for those were so they could be enjoyed by people driving along Aurora ffs.
Data Access: A recent ruling in Skagit County determined that Flock camera data is considered a public record, creating further concerns about privacy. I am NOT a fan.
ReplyDelete+1: if the number of accidents is almost non-existent EVEN though some people are driving over 30mph, maybe the current 20mph limits are too low and need to be lifted instead? It looks like this data is confirming that the safe enough speed is higher than 20mph, so what's the point of increasing enforcement of artificially lowered speeds?
ReplyDeleteThese photo tickets have been such a loser in court that they hold no more status than a parking ticket. They don't impact your car insurance and they are easily refuted. Municipalities, however, love them because they are an excellent source of revenue. Snohomish County is piling up the money from people who don't know that tickets from any other than police are easily refuted in court. Want people to slow down in school zones? Cops are very good at that and their evidence even holds up in court.
ReplyDeleteIf you're ticketing vehicles for going only 1-5MPH over the posted speed limit it's a money grab. If you were actually concerned about people's safety you would only be issuing tickets to vehicles who are excessively speeding I.E. 10+ MPH over.
ReplyDeleteI vote for speed humps. The idea that low income people don't need to pay tickets is ludicrous. Anyone can dispute the ticket by claiming "I wasn't driving". Speed humps work 24/7, don't have racial or ethnic or financial bias, and require minimal maintenance. Being issued a ticket won't change your driving habits, but going over a speed hump will slow you down which I believe is the intended goal. Figure out a different way to raise revenue. Or here's a free idea! Cite drivers who you can see are on their cell phones while driving! I'm looking at your Police Dept in any city.
ReplyDeleteHow about cameras in board rooms where politicians meet with camera companies?
ReplyDeleteIt’s not about safety. It’s about the revenue.
ReplyDelete