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To protect more children walking and biking to and from school, SDOT and the Seattle Police Department recently installed school zone speed cameras near six additional schools.

A reminder that starting on Monday, October 19th, the new safety cameras installed near six schools this fall will stop issuing warnings and start issuing $234 tickets to people driving above the school zone speed limit of 20 MPH.

The school zone speed limit is 20 MPH for good reason – a person walking hit by a person driving 20 MPH or slower is likely to survive, but the likelihood of surviving a crash decreases significantly the faster the person is driving. Further, elementary school kids haven’t developed the cognitive ability to accurately judge how fast a person is driving or how quickly a person can stop their car. Traffic collisions are the number one cause of death for 5 to 24 year olds nationally. Let’s work together to change these statistics in our community.

The new safety cameras were installed this fall in these six school zones:

Northgate Elementary School, on 1 st Ave NE from N 120 th St to N 117 th St

Ave NE from N 120 St to N 117 St Montlake Elementary School, on 24 th Ave E from E Calhoun St to E Lynn St

Ave E from E Calhoun St to E Lynn St Bailey Gatzert Elementary School, on Boren Ave from E Yesler Way to S Main St

Mercer Middle School, on 15 th Ave S/S Columbian Way from S Nevada St to S Snoqualmie St

Ave S/S Columbian Way from S Nevada St to S Snoqualmie St K-8 STEM & Arbor Heights Elementaries, on Delridge Way SW from SW Juneau St to 22 nd Ave SW

Ave SW Rainier View Elementary, on Beacon Ave S from S Moore St to 56th Ave S

The 20 MPH speed limit is in effect when the yellow beacons next to the speed limit sign are flashing. The safety cameras are only active when the beacons are flashing. To learn more about how the safety cameras work, view our new brochure on our safety camera webpage.

The school zone safety cameras are part of SDOT’s Safe Routes to School program, which aims to make it easier and safer for students to walk and bike. Safe Routes to School is one of Seattle’s Vision Zero initiatives, a program to end fatalities and serious injuries on our streets by 2030.