Crime & Safety

Redmond Officials Report Slight Decline in Traffic Camera Violations

The majority of citations continue to occur during a right-on-red turn. One of the cameras is just east of the Kirkland-Redmond boundary at 85th and 148th.

Redmond officials who met Tuesday to discuss the city's safety camera pilot program as part of a regular city council public safety committee meeting said they are pleased the number of citations has declined over the past three months but are somewhat concerned at the ongoing frequency of the violations.

"They are still pretty high, but we have seen a decrease, which is important," said Redmond Police Commander Shari Shovlin.

The red-light cameras are located eastbound on Redmond Way (85th) at 148th Avenue NE, eastbound and westbound on NE 40th Street at 156th Avenue NE, and westbound on Union Hill Road and northbound on Avondale Road where those two roads intersect. A speed zone camera is also located at , 18025 NE 116th St.

Find out what's happening in Kirklandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Since February, the number of camera-enforced violations has decreased overall. At Redmond Way and 148th Avenue Northeast, however, the number of citations rose from 871 in March to 941 in April after falling from 1,187 warnings issued during February, when the program's warning period was in place.

The total number of citations at all four locations was 2,258 in April, a slight increase from 2,252 in March but a decline from 2,800 warnings in February. Each citation results in a $124 ticket.

Find out what's happening in Kirklandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

City Councilman Hank Myers, who chairs the public safety committee, said he was surprised the number of citations remains high at Einstein Elementary, considering the speed camera is active for only 40 minutes each day.

"On a per-hour basis, that's a pretty significant number of violations," he said.

At the other three intersections, the majority of red-light violations occur when someone is taking a right turn, Shovlin said. During March and April, 4,037  — about 90 percent — of the red-light citations were for right-turns, while 267 citations were given out to someone who ran a red light while traveling straight through the intersection, she said.

Even though people making a right turn aren't typically traveling as fast as someone heading straight through an intersection, Shovlin said that type of violation is particularly dangerous for bicyclists and pedestrians who are attempting to cross in front of the stopped traffic on a walk signal.

But Redmond resident Scott Harlan, who attended the meeting and is helping to lead a , said he believes the distinction between right-on-red and all other violations is important. Citing a 2001 U.S. Department of Transportation study, Harlan said the majority of collisions caused by red lights are not the t-bone type incidents that most people envision.

"Nobody wants it to happen," Harlan said of right-on-red collisions, "but the question is, is this a sledgehammer approach?"

Shovlin said the police department has been working to educate people that it is illegal to turn right on red without stopping and has used discretion in throwing out many citations where the driver slowly rolled through the right-turn lane. During March and April, police rejected 581 camera-captured violations, the majority of which were "slow rolls" on right turns, Shovlin said.

Meanwhile, the number of collisions at the four intersections has decreased from seven during the first four months of 2010 to six during the first four months of this year.

Officials said it's still to early to tell how significant the program's impact on safety will be, but city council members said they have heard a positive response from many people, especially parents and teachers at Einstein.

"That's a great improvement in that school zone area," Shovlin said of the decline in speed violations at Einstein. "Bottom line for us: it's about safety, and we don't wait for someone to get hurt to act. We continue to be proactive."

Myers said the public safety committee will continue to review the camera data every two months. The city council is scheduled to review the pilot program as a whole at the end of the year.

Camera-enforced warnings and citations

Avondale Rd / Union Hill Rd NE 40th St / 156th Ave NE Redmond Way / 148th Ave NE NE 116th St at Einstein Elementary February 927 528 1,187 158 March 701 570 871 110 April 666 555 941 96

Source: Redmond Police Department


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Kirkland