By Gwen Davis

Ticket fines for traffic infractions have gone up as of July 1, 2015.

But while steep tickets are irritating, West Seattle residents have been receiving frequent and hefty tickets for traffic violations caught on camera. This is no surprise, since the city has been installing more cameras around the greater Seattle area, especially in school zones.

But what are these new changes, and how will they impact you?

According to Gary Ireland, public information officer with the Seattle Municipal Court (SMC), there are two categories for camera red light offenses, both of which amount to a new ticket fine of $136. The amount used to be $124.

Additionally, SDOT operates more than 60 sets of school zone flashing beacons are Seattle, according to the city. The flashing beacons are mounted along with school speed signs that read “20 miles per hour – even if children are not present”.

Officer Lauren Lovanhill, public affairs official for the Seattle Police Department (SPD) said that school zone tickets are $201.

This is particularly pertinent to West Seattle residents who will have to watch out for school zones while driving on and around Roxbury St. SW and 35th Ave SW, which will both be up for construction improvements later this year.

Interestingly enough, camera ticket fees do not vary according to the relative severity of the offense. Ireland said that all camera finesnare set and there is no sliding scale. For instance, if a driver is ticketed for going 1 mph over the speed limit, he or she would be given the same ticket for going 10 mph over the limit.

“For School Zone Safety Cameras and Red Light Traffic Camera violations, the fine is a set amount as established by IRLJ6,” Ireland said.

However, many non-camera photo enforcement tickets still do have a speed scale, according to Lovanhill.

For the full list of violation descriptions and how much each ticket is, visit the city’s website:
http://web1.seattle.gov/courts/violation/

But how do the cameras and the whole ticketing process work?

The city uses the Axsis RLC-300 camera system, which has three basic components, according to the city: a high-resolution camera for taking color pictures, a video camera that provides a broader view of the
offending vehicle, pedestrian or cyclist in the intersection, and a vehicle sensing device that activates the still cameras and captures video of approaching vehicles that the system “predicts” will violate the red light.

The pictures show the vehicle behind the stop line with the traffic signal showing red in an “A” photo, according to the city, and the same vehicle fully beyond the stop sign with the traffic signal showing red in a “B” photo.

The stills, together with a cropped image of the vehicle license plate are included in the citation, which is sent to the registered owner of the vehicle. The still pictures and video of the event are available to police reviewers, court personnel and registered owners via website. All photos and videos only show the rear of the vehicle, as
Washington law prohibits taking images of the faces of vehicle drivers or occupants, according to the city.

All violation events are sent electronically to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), who reviews each case. Events that are not violations are rejected from the data center. Trained officers in the SPD traffic section who authorize issuance citations for those deemed in violation, review events that appear to meet SPD criteria. The
violation is sent to the registered owner within 14 days of the event, according to the city.

The registered owner has 18 days from issuance of the ticket to pay the penalty, contest the citation by requesting a Municipal Court hearing, or sign a declaration that the individual was not driving the vehicle at the time of the infraction.

The cameras appear to work. According to the city, it seems that cameras may have mitigated the severity of crashes. There were fewer injury crashes and fewer persons injured in crashes at test intersections than before cameras were installed,” according to the Seattle.gov website. “Moreover, severity of crashes at a small number of ‘control’ intersections not equipped with cameras showed an increase, as measured by the number of injury crashes and persons injured.”

Results have been positive with school zone cameras as well, according to the city. Since program began, the average number of traffic violations per camera per day has decreased by 64 percent and average speeds have decreased by four percent.

Safety cameras are indiscriminate; all vehicles are treated the same.

The city says there’s one easy way to not get a ticket -- don’t speed.

All drivers are in control of their fate.