LYNNWOOD — Drivers speeding past four city schools this summer will need to watch out for more than just traffic cops.
They will also need to be wary of new traffic cameras.
Lynnwood became the first city in Snohomish County to approve the installation of traffic ticket cameras in school zones last week.
Driving past one at 26 mph, 6 mph over the limit, could cost a driver $124. Faster drivers could be subject to $250 tickets. The cameras will be installed before school starts in the fall.
More cameras means more safety — and more money for the city, advocates said.
“Throughout the city, we have people who just do not go by the posted speed limit,” said Councilman Ted Hikel, who said he would like to install even more speed cameras. “We would make a fortune off people who don’t stop at the stop signs and zoom up the street, and I’m sure that’s repeated on many, many streets.”*
The city also helped pioneer the red-light cameras that are now found throughout the state.
Last year, it collected $2 million in revenue from its red-light program.
School zone cameras will cost the city $114,000 a year, but ticket revenues should offset that, police officials said. All revenue from the cameras funds public safety programs.
The four schools covered by the cameras are Lynnwood Elementary School, at 18638 44th Ave W., and Meadowdale High School, Middle School and Elementary Schools, which are clustered together near the 6000 block of 168th Street SW.
The areas have seen dangerous driving, police said.
One driver zoomed past one of the schools at 71 mph during a study period last fall, Police Chief Steve Jensen said. The areas getting cameras have seen 55 accidents in the last few years.
Police couldn’t say how many of those involved pedestrians, or were during school hours. Altogether, the schools have about 3,200 students.
Councilman Jim Smith criticized that lack of specificity. “There is nothing that directly says that, yes, we have been having accidents where kids are getting hurt,” he said.
The city’s embrace of robotic cameras makes it seem like Big Brother, he said.
“I do not say that as an insult, but ‘it’ is us. We are now automating everything,” Smith said. He was in the hospital for heart surgery when the city approved a contract for the cameras in April and said he would have voted against them.
Some state laws are designed to keep fears of Big Brother at bay.
Traffic safety cameras are forbidden from places other than school zones, railroad crossings and intersections.
The speed cameras work just like red-light cameras, capturing violations with pictures and short videos. A police officer reviews the evidence on a computer and can send a ticket to a vehicle’s registered owner.
The tickets are treated like parking violations, and do not go on a driver’s record.
Washington prohibits the cameras from taking pictures of drivers’ faces. Also, photos and videos from the cameras cannot be used in court to prove any crime other than speeding or running a red light.
Less restrictive laws in other states have been challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union. The Washington chapter of the ACLU isn’t raising an alarm about local traffic cameras, said Doug Honig, spokesman for the ACLU of Washington.
Lynnwood isn’t the only Snohomish County city moving forward with the speed cameras.
Everett is set to vote Wednesday on a camera that could be installed this summer at Horizon Elementary on W. Casino Road in south Everett. The vote would also install six red-light cameras around the city.
“Casino Road has an ugly history of pedestrian fatalities,” city traffic engineer Dongho Chang said.
Since 2006, three of four fatal pedestrian or bicycle collisions in Everett happened on a half-mile stretch of Casino Road near the school from Evergreen Way to Fifth Avenue W.
“We would love to have them at every school,” said Everett Deputy Police Chief Greg Lineberry. “The prime driver is safety.”
In Lynnwood, signs warning drivers of the cameras will be installed this summer, and lights should flash when the cameras are in operation — which will be any time students are in the school buildings.
The speed limit near the schools is 20 mph during the 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. school hours.
Driving from 6 to 15 mph over the speed limit can cost drivers $124. Going faster will cost $250, said Cmdr. Chuck Steichen.
The biggest benefit of the cameras is protecting students, Steichen said.
“The school zone truly needs attention. We get a lot of complaints,” said Steichen, who has worked traffic in the school zones. “I think (these cameras) are the most efficient and effective way of dealing with the problems we have identified.”
David Chircop contributed to this story.
Chris Fyall: 425-339-3447, cfyall@heraldnet.com.
*Correction, June 20, 2009: This article originally included an incomplete quote from Lynnwood City Councilman Ted Hikel.
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