Seattle Police are once again cracking down on speeders on Elliott Avenue. We snapped these pictures today of the photo radar van that’s been used around the city for the past few months. Today, it’s back on Elliott near Mercer.
The van is equipped with a traffic safety camera and across-the-road radar. Depending on your speed, a ticket will cost you anywhere from $124 all the way up to $247. The ticket is mailed to you. The van is part of a pilot program that’s set to end this fall. The state legislature will then decide whether to continue the program.
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
Hooray for our nanny state!!!
We must be protected from ourselves!!
I hate technology – do they take pictures of your front or back license?
Normally I'm all for any kind of enforcement of the traffic rules around here since most people on the north end drive like complete idiots, but the speed limits are so artificially low that this kind of enforcement is really not what we need.
Traffic shenanigans enforcement? Yay!
Red light cameras? Yay!
Speed trap cameras? boo!
How come they have resources for income generation but don’t have the resources to put cops on a beat?
I want one of these on Leary in Ballard! People drive through there like it's their own personal speedway! :( I'm just waiting to get run down by some jerk.
'cause it costs little to park a car with some cameras in it… it costs alot more in time, physical effort and safety for an actual officer.
This sucks. Choosing to go 5 over is an expression of American independence. Individuality. A harmless act of civil disobedience that's merely an expression of being in control of your own destiny.
The van will generate a ton of revenue, most of it to be spent unsuccessfully prosecuting those who choose to dispute the ticket.
Sheesh. Hopefully, some hero citizen will cover the windows of that van with painter's tape.
I find it unlikely that the van will be ticketing those going 5 over as speedometers very greatly across the board. So for the trigger mechanism to be that specific is likely to cause more problems than good in court fees and arguments.
both I'd suspect for clarity and accuracy. Don't want people fighting it saying “it wasn't them” 'cause they tried to avoid the law by breaking another in removing one or more of their plates.
A non-driver's curiosity: Is $124 the minimum cost of an in-city speeding ticket? Does the fine reflect the minimum speed at which these by-mail tickets are triggered? Or are they legally allowed to tack on an additional fee for this particular ticketing process (above the normal speeding fine)?
no, just from people like you
never had a speeding ticket so i wouldn't know the minimum, but if i remember correctly, these tickets aren't counted as moving violations (much like the red-light camera ones), so they're ticketed like non-moving violations… aka parking tickets.
Only 5mph over is your expressing your independance????? A few laws of physics and statistics later and I think you are expressing your ignorance.
Facts and Statistics about Speed
Speeding and excessive speed causes thousands of serious accidents and injuries every year.
Excessive speed contributes to 28% of collisions in which someone is killed, 18% of crashes resulting in a serious injury and 12% of all injury collisions. In 2008, 362 people were killed in crashes involving someone exceeding the speed limit and a further 224 people died when someone was travelling too fast for the conditions.
Approximately two-thirds of all crashes in which people are killed or injured happen on roads with a speed limit of 30 mph or less. At 35 mph a driver is twice as likely to kill someone as they are at 30 mph.
Studies have shown the extent that the speed effects the risk of injury, and this is also shown in the simulator. Some key facts to note are that,
Hit by a car at 20 mph, 1 out of 40 pedestrian will be killed,
97% will survive
Hit by a car at 30 mph, 2 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed,
80% will survive
Hit by a car at 35 mph, 5 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed,
50% will survive
Hit by a car at 40 mph, 9 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed,
10% will survive
Take it from me, going 35 in a 30 zone results in a lot of injuries and pain and continuing to rehab 13mths after the accident. And no, I was not at fault.
Taken From Royal Society for the prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)
Why exactly do you need protection from me? I am a non violent, non speeding, law abiding taxpayer.
How exactly am I threat to you?
One thing to consider in your stats is that 95% of people will be speeding on that road, just like they are on that stretch of Aurora through Fremont and QA when they're unaware of the speed trap.
Little side street? Yeah, you really shouldn't speed there since it's quite dangerous. But 5 over on a six lane straightaway that's marked at something really low like 30? Who's going to do 30 on that road when it's wide open?
According to this logic, speed limits should all be set to 5mph in order to increase safety. Otherwise, we'd have to admit the truth, which is that we trade off safety and convenience and are willing to accept some deaths/injuries in the interest of faster transportation.
Yes, they're designed to generate money. I believe that if you sign an affidavit that it wasn't you in the car driving when the photo was taken, they will drop the ticket and fine.
Clearly this is the work of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce.
It's all about the money.
I'll bet that a major slice of the revenue goes to the company that provides this “service”. The city ends up with a portion.
Just a way for some scam artist – excuse me, some entrepreneur – to line his pockets.
Because this is run by a private, for-profit corporation. The city is just an enabler who receives a minor portion of the take.
Police protecting citizens from crime? What a quaint notion.
This is strange because I actually drove through there yesterday and cops were pulling people over. Either this story is missing some details or what I witnessed was just an anomaly.
Well, I'm going to be sorry if I get a ticket. I could tell it to the judge, and he'd say; “Yes, now you are.”
Aren't we all.
Call the Waaaaahmbulance!
God, I left Europe to get away from sissies like this.
These people won't be happy until we're back in caves, dying at age 25 with the carbon footprint of a nomad.
attitude speaks volumes. if you not violating anything, then you have nothing to worry. simple.
because cops on the beat aren't generating income. and there is not enough tax base to hire more traffic cops. as qwerty stated, it all about the money. especially now.
Really they should do something about getting on to the Alaska Way Viaduct. Those people that are more important than me that wait until the last minute to merge right to save themselves 10 cars…..maybe adding a cement barrier would slow them down.
well, David, apparently you've never been hit by a car. getting hit sucks, rehab sucks, dealing with insurance sucks, and… mean people who don't give a crap about anyone around them? well they suck too. sissy my ass.
Anyone notice the “Speed Photo Enforced” sign mounted on the light pole near the intersection of Elliot and Mercer? I thought they had to put out their sandwich board whenever the creeper van was taking holiday snaps.
Pillage the earth and you may wind up living out a brief life in a cave with a carbon footprint smaller than a nomad.
Speed cameras are very common in Europe, but at least over there they let you drive at a realistic speed on the open stretches of highway. or at least in Germany on the autobahn they do.