HomeMy WebLinkAbout121913_School Zone cameras
website: rentonwa.gov
City of Renton, 1055 S Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057
December 19, 2013
For more information contact:
Clark Wilcox, Commander, Renton Police Department 425-430-7500
Protecting Children in School Zones
Additional Photo Enforcement Cameras Activated in January
Renton: The City of Renton is expanding its photo enforcement program and has installed
additional cameras in school zones. School zone speed safety cameras will be operational
starting January 6, 2014 at Cascade, Honey Dew and Benson Hill elementary schools. The three
new locations were approved based on a traffic study that identified these areas as having the
highest number of vehicles exceeding the 20 mph speed limit.
“Our school zone speed safety cameras have resulted in drivers slowing down,” said Mayor
Denis Law. “We are now expanding this program to areas where a significant number of drivers
continue to exceed the speed limit. “Our goal is to make Renton a safer place for everyone who
uses the roads in our city, especially for our children in school zones.”
This program is also being expanded to include red-light safety cameras at the Benson Road
South intersection with Petrovitsky/Southeast Carr Rd. in 2014.
A warning period will be in effect from January 6, to February 3. After the warning period, the
registered owner of the offending car will be issued a ticket for $124 if the 20 mph school zone
speed limit is exceeded by 6 to 15 mph and $250 if the speed limit is exceeded by 16 mph or
more.
Signs have been posted at the new locations to alert drivers that cameras are in use. The
cameras operate during school times and capture still photographs and video of every vehicle
that exceeds the school zone speed limit. Vehicles exceeding the speed limit through the school
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zones will be photographed, and those images will be reviewed by the Renton Police
Department to determine if a citation is to be issued.
“What’s the difference between 20 mph and 26 mph --twenty-six feet of stopping distance,”
said Commander Clark Wilcox “With children walking in the area, that twenty-six feet could
mean the difference between life and death. “
For more information on the city of Renton’s Photo Enforcement programs, which launched its
first red-light safety camera in May 2008 and became the first city in Washington to use school
zone speed cameras, visit: http://rentonwa.gov/government/default.aspx?id=16204 .
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