Chapter 10.08
AUTOMATED TRAFFIC SAFETY CAMERAS
Sections:
10.08.030 Authorized use of automated traffic safety cameras.
10.08.040 Limitation on the use of images from an automated traffic safety camera.
10.08.050 Notice of infraction.
10.08.060 Infractions processed.
10.08.070 Prima facie presumption.
10.08.100 Contract with manufacturer/vendor of automated traffic safety cameras.
10.08.120 Nonexclusive enforcement.
10.08.010 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to adopt an automated traffic safety camera program, in accordance with RCW 46.63.220, to:
(1) Improve safety for all transportation users, with an emphasis on reducing speeding near schools to protect children, youth, pedestrians, bicyclists, and vulnerable users;
(2) Establish a mechanism for enforcement that will emphasize deterrence in alignment with the City’s equitable justice practices;
(3) Restrict the use of net revenue to transportation safety activities, and other uses as provided by State law;
(4) Define vendor relationships that prioritize resident privacy; and
(5) Establish a transparent framework for reporting whereby program outcomes and performance will be communicated regularly with the public, City Council, and State. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.020 Definitions.
The following definitions apply throughout this chapter:
(1) “Automated traffic safety camera” means a device that uses a vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with a speed measuring device, and a camera synchronized to automatically record one or more sequenced photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images of the front or rear of a motor vehicle at the time the vehicle exceeds a speed limit as detected by a speed measuring device.
(2) “City” means the City of Woodinville, Washington.
(3) “Police Chief” means the Chief of the Woodinville Police Department.
(4) “School speed zone” means a school or playground speed zone established by, or under, RCW 46.61.440.
(5) “School speed zone violation” means a violation of RCW 46.61.440, subject to the operation limitation as defined by this chapter. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.030 Authorized use of automated traffic safety cameras.
(1) The City Council may authorize the deployment, or relocation, of automated traffic safety cameras at any school speed zone fully or partially located within the City; provided, that for each individual deployment or relocation the following criteria must first be satisfied:
(a) The City has received complaints from residents, visitors, City staff or officials, or school district staff or officials relating to school speed zone or stoplight violations at the proposed location;
(b) Available data indicates that the installation of an automated traffic safety camera at the proposed location would accomplish one or more of the following:
(i) Reduce vehicular speeds;
(ii) Reduce the rates of collisions or near collisions;
(iii) Increase the safety of vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and nonmotorized vehicles; or
(iv) Otherwise improve transportation system safety based on anticipated or actual ineffectiveness or infeasibility of other mitigation measures;
(c) The City has analyzed the equity impacts of camera placement on the livability, accessibility, economics, education, and environmental health; and
(d) The equity analysis and traffic analysis for any such camera placement is no more than two years old at the time of authorization.
(2) Any automated traffic safety camera deployed in accordance with subsection (1) of this section may only be used by City law enforcement officers to detect school speed zone violations.
(3) The use of automated traffic safety cameras is further subject to the following restrictions:
(a) Automated traffic safety cameras may only take pictures of a vehicle and vehicle license plate and only while an infraction is occurring.
(b) Pictures taken by an automated traffic safety camera may not reveal the face of the driver or of the passengers in the vehicle.
(c) If reasonably feasible, automated traffic safety cameras shall be installed in a manner that minimizes the impact of camera flash on drivers.
(d) At least 30 days prior to activation of an automated traffic safety camera, signs must be erected at the school speed zone at which the camera is deployed. Such signs must be clearly visible to the driver approaching an automated traffic camera system and must clearly indicate to a driver either that:
(i) The driver is within an area where automated traffic safety cameras are authorized; or
(ii) The driver is entering an area where violations are enforced by an automated traffic safety camera.
Such signs must follow the specifications and guidelines of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for streets and highways as adopted by the Department of Transportation under Chapter 47.36 RCW. Such signs must remain in place for the duration that an automated traffic safety camera is deployed at that location. The Public Works Director or designee may authorize the installation of any signage as necessary to ensure compliance with this chapter.
(e) The initial hours of operation during which notices of infraction may be issued for school zone speed violations detected by an automated traffic safety camera shall be established at the time a camera enforcement location is authorized by the City Council and subject to the conditions for that specific location. The Public Works Director or designee shall have the authority to adjust or suspend enforcement hours, or void infractions, due to weather conditions, camera maintenance, changes to school bell schedules, or other operational considerations. Any expansion of enforcement hours beyond the originally authorized time period, including but not limited to an extension to all-day enforcement, shall require reauthorization by the City Council. The City Council may also amend the hours of operation at any time upon recommendation from the Chief of Police, City staff, or school district representatives. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.040 Limitation on the use of images from an automated traffic safety camera.
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images prepared under this chapter are for the exclusive use of City in the discharge of duties under this chapter and are not open to the public and may not be used in a court in a pending action or proceeding unless the action or proceeding relates to a violation under this chapter.
(2) No photograph, microphotograph, or electronic image, or any other personally identifying data may be used for any purpose other than enforcement of violations under this chapter nor retained longer than necessary to enforce this chapter. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.050 Notice of infraction.
(1) Whenever a photograph, microphotograph, or electronic image taken by an automated traffic safety camera captures a school zone violation, then a notice of infraction shall be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle within 14 days of the violation, or to the renter of the vehicle within 14 days of establishing the renter’s name and address under this section.
(2) If the registered owner of the vehicle is a rental car business, then before a notice of infraction is issued under subsection (1) of this section, the City shall first provide a written notice to the rental car business that a notice of infraction may be issued to the rental car business if the rental car business does not, within 18 days of receiving the written notice, provide to the City by return mail:
(a) A statement under oath stating the name and known mailing address of the individual driving or renting the vehicle when the infraction occurred; or
(b) A statement under oath that the business is unable to determine who was driving or renting the vehicle at the time the infraction occurred because the vehicle was stolen at the time of the infraction (must be accompanied by a copy of a filed police report regarding the vehicle theft); or
(c) In lieu of identifying the vehicle operator, the rental car business may pay the applicable penalty.
(d) Timely mailing of a valid statement to the City pursuant to subsection (2)(a) or (2)(b) of this section relieves a rental car business of any liability under this chapter for the notice of infraction.
(3) The law enforcement officer issuing the notice of infraction shall include with it a certificate, or facsimile thereof, based upon inspection of photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images produced by an automated traffic safety camera, stating the facts supporting the notice of infraction. This certificate, or facsimile thereof, is prima facie evidence of the facts contained in it and is admissible in a proceeding charging a violation under this chapter.
(4) The registered owner of a vehicle is responsible for an infraction detected through the use of an automated traffic safety camera unless the registered owner overcomes the presumption set forth in WMC 10.08.070 or, in the case of a rental car business, satisfies the conditions under subsection (2) of this section. If appropriate under the circumstances, a renter identified under subsection (2) of this section is responsible for an infraction.
(5) Notice of infraction must provide the registered owner of the vehicle with information on their eligibility and the opportunity to apply for a reduction in penalty amounts through the mail or internet pursuant to WMC 10.08.080(2). (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.060 Infractions processed.
(1) Infractions detected through the use of automated traffic safety cameras are not part of the registered owner’s driving record under RCW 46.52.101 and 46.52.120. Additionally, infractions generated by the use of automated traffic safety cameras under this chapter shall be processed in the same manner as parking infractions, including for the purposes of RCW 3.50.100, 35.20.220, 46.16A.120 and 46.20.270(2).
(2) For at least 60 calendar days after the activation of an automated traffic camera system at a particular location, no fines shall be issued for school speed zone violations detected by the newly activated automated traffic camera system. Registered owners of vehicles committing school speed zone infractions shall receive all information regularly provided in a notice of infraction pursuant to WMC 10.08.050, with the penalties waived as notice of the new system. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.070 Prima facie presumption.
(1) In a traffic infraction case involving an infraction detected through the use of an automated traffic safety camera under this chapter, proof that the particular vehicle described in the notice of traffic infraction was involved in a school speed zone violation, together with proof that the person named in the notice of infraction was at the time of the violation the registered owner of the vehicle, shall constitute in evidence a prima facie presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle was the person in control of the vehicle at the point where, and for the time during which, the violation occurred.
(2) This presumption may be overcome only if the registered owner, under oath, states in a written statement to the court or in testimony before the court that the vehicle involved was at the time stolen or in the care, custody, or control of some person other than the registered owner. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.080 Penalties.
(1) The penalty for a school speed zone violation shall be based on the speed over the posted speed limit that the vehicle is traveling:
(a) If the speed of the vehicle is five to 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit, the penalty shall be $145.00, which includes any applicable statutory assessments.
(b) If the speed of the vehicle is 11 or more miles per hour over the posted speed limit, the penalty shall be $250.00, which includes any applicable statutory assessments.
(2) Registered owners of vehicles who receive notices of infraction for automated traffic safety camera-enforced infractions and are recipients of public assistance under RCW Title 74 or participants in the Washington Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program, and who request reduced penalties for infractions detected through the use of automated traffic safety camera violations, will be granted reduced penalty amounts of 50 percent of what would otherwise be assessed for a first automated traffic safety camera violation and for subsequent automated traffic safety camera violations issued within 21 days of issuance of the first automated traffic safety camera violation. Eligibility for Medicaid under RCW 74.09.510 is not a qualifying criterion under this subsection.
(3) Fees and penalties for failure to respond shall follow the standard court schedule for infractions. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.090 Use of revenue.
(1) Any revenue generated by automated traffic safety cameras must first be used to administer, install, operate, and maintain the automated traffic safety cameras, including the cost of processing infractions.
(2) Any net revenue must be used for traffic safety activities related to construction and preservation projects and maintenance and operations purposes including, but not limited to, projects designed to implement the complete streets approach as defined in RCW 47.04.010, changes in physical infrastructure to reduce speeds through road design, and changes to improve safety for active transportation users, including improvements to access and safety for road users with mobility, sight, or other disabilities.
(3) Revenue must be used proportionate to the share of the population of the City who are residents of census tracts of the City that have household incomes in the lowest quartile determined by the most currently available census data and areas that experience rates of injury crashes that are above average for the City. This share must be directed to investments that provide direct and meaningful traffic safety benefits to these communities. Revenue used to administer, install, operate, and maintain automated traffic safety cameras, including the cost of processing infractions, are excluded from determination of the proportionate share of revenues.
(4) Beginning four years after an automated traffic safety camera authorized under this chapter is initially placed and in use, 25 percent of the noninterest money received for infractions issued by such cameras in excess of the cost to administer, install, operate, and maintain the cameras, including the cost of processing infractions, must be deposited into the Cooper Jones active transportation safety account created in RCW 46.68.480. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.100 Contract with manufacturer/vendor of automated traffic safety cameras.
(1) To effectuate this chapter, the City Manager may enter into a contract with a manufacturer or vendor of automated traffic safety cameras and associated equipment, software, and services. The compensation paid to the manufacturer or vendor under any such contract must be based only upon the value of the equipment and services provided or rendered in support of the City’s automated traffic safety camera program, and may not be based upon a portion of the fine or civil penalty imposed or the revenue generated by the automated traffic safety cameras.
(2) In accordance with WMC 10.08.040, the vendor shall not use, sell, or distribute any data captured by the automated traffic safety cameras for any purpose other than processing school speed zone pursuant to this chapter. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.110 Annual reporting.
(1) For each calendar year during which an automated traffic safety camera is activated within the City, the Police Chief or designee shall prepare an annual report containing at least the following information:
(a) The number of automated traffic safety cameras deployed within the City;
(b) The locations at which each automated traffic safety is deployed within the City;
(c) The number of traffic accidents that occurred at each location where an automated traffic safety camera is located;
(d) For each location at which an automated traffic safety camera is deployed, the number of notices of infraction issued based on photographs, microphotographs, or electronic images taken by the automated traffic safety camera at that location;
(e) The percentage of revenues received from fines issued from automated traffic safety camera infractions that were used to pay for the costs of the automated traffic safety camera program and must describe the uses of revenues that exceeded the costs of operation and administration of the automated traffic safety camera program by the City or County; and
(f) Any other relevant information about the automated traffic safety cameras that the City staff deems appropriate.
(2) City shall post each annual report to the City’s website.
(3) City will also report, to the extent practicable, the number of traffic accidents, speeding violations, single vehicle accidents, pedestrian accidents, and driving under the influence violations that occurred at each location where an automated traffic safety camera is located in the five years before each camera’s authorization and after each camera’s authorization. (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)
10.08.120 Nonexclusive enforcement.
Nothing in this chapter prohibits a law enforcement officer from issuing a notice of traffic infraction to a person in control of a vehicle at the time a violation occurs under RCW 46.63.030(1)(a), (1)(b), or (1)(c). (Ord. 788 § 1 (Att. A), 2025)