Many of the 19 new camera locations will be activated in September 2025 to help children and families get to school safely
Blog stats: 1,300 words | 7-minute read
At-a-glance:
- School zone safety cameras are a proven way to get drivers to travel at safe speeds as kids go to school and head home after class.
- Last fall, the Seattle City Council approved expanding the program to 19 new locations near schools all across the city, doubling the current count across Seattle.
- Many of the new cameras will be activated at the start of school in September 2025, and we will continue to install more during the 2025-2026 school year.
- In this blog post, you’ll find where the new cameras will be located.
- The speed limit around schools is 20 MPH anytime children are present and when school zone beacons are active.
- The goal is to get people to follow traffic safety laws, and all revenue will be invested in traffic safety upgrades like new sidewalks, crosswalks, Safe Routes to School projects, and more.
- Visit our website or read this blog post to learn more about Seattle’s overall traffic safety camera program. You can also learn about our Safe Routes to School Program.
Keeping our kids safe when they head to school is essential, particularly as students walk, roll, or bike to their school buildings. School zone safety cameras are a proven method to ensure people drive at safe speeds, significantly reducing the risk of a serious crash. We’re adding more cameras around school zones throughout the city this year.
“Helping our youngest residents get to school safely is at the core of our mission at SDOT, and these new school zone safety cameras are an important tool to achieve this goal. By encouraging drivers to slow down and travel at safer speeds around schools, we’re making a meaningful difference at more schools throughout the city. We appreciate everyone’s focus and attention to this important matter, whenever children are present.” – Venu Nemani, Chief Safety Officer, Seattle Department of Transportation
How it works
- Safety cameras enforce the speed limit in school zones and help protect children and families.
- The speed limit in Seattle is 20 MPH around all schools when children are present. It’s also the speed limit on Seattle’s non-arterial streets.
- Yellow flashing lights called beacons are mounted on many school zone speed limit signs and are turned on at certain times based on when students are most likely to be present. These indicate that the speed limit is 20 MPH and school zone safety cameras are operating.
Timing
- The new cameras will be added in 19 school speed zones where beacons are also used.
- You may see crews working to install camera equipment in some locations this summer so that we will be ready to turn on several of cameras at the start of the school year in September.
- We will continue to install the remaining cameras over time during the new academic year.
- We will install street signs at least 30 days before the cameras are turned on so people are aware.
Selecting new locations
- Locations were chosen based on safety and equity data analysis with the goal of adding cameras where they could have the biggest safety benefit.
- All new cameras will be in existing school speed zones which already have beacons and 20 MPH signs. These locations were chosen because people were ignoring the existing the signs and beacons and illegally driving above the speed limit.
New camera locations
| School | Street Location |
|---|---|
| Rainier Valley Leadership Academy | Rainier Ave S (S Spencer St to S Kenny St) |
| Bertschi Elementary School | 10th Ave E (E Boston St to E Lynn St) |
| St Matthew School K-8 | 15th Ave NE (NE 125th St to NE 130th St) |
| Our Lady of the Lake School K-8 | 35th Ave NE (NE 88th St to NE 91st St) |
| West Seattle High School | California Ave SW (SW Hanford St to SW Stevens St) |
| Nathan Hale High School | 35th Ave NE (NE 105th St to NE 113th St) |
| Hamilton Middle School | Wallingford Ave N (N 40th St to N 42nd St) |
| Hazel Wolf K-8 | Roosevelt Way NE (NE 115th St to NE 117th St) |
| West Woodland Elementary | NW Market St (NW 55th St to 7th Ave NW) |
| West Woodland Elementary | 3rd Ave NW (NW 55th St to NW 60th St) |
| Alki Elementary | SW Admiral Way (60th Ave SW to 57th Ave SW) |
| Bryant Elementary | 35th Ave NE (NE 57th St to NE 62nd St) |
| View Ridge Elementary | NE 70th St (45th Ave NE to 50th Ave NE) |
| View Ridge Elementary | NE 75th St (45th Ave NE to 50th Ave NE) |
| Viewlands Elementary | 3rd Ave NW (NW 103rd St to NW 110th St) |
| Greenwood Elementary | 3rd Ave NW (NW 83rd St to NW 79th St) |
| John Rogers Elementary | NE 110th St (38th Ave NE to Alton Ave NE) |
| BF Day Elementary | Fremont Ave N (N 38th St to N 41st St) |
| TOPS K-8 | Boylston Ave E (E Lynn St to E Roanoke St) |
Map
Building awareness
We are committed to equitable enforcement, including conducting educational outreach about new camera locations as plans are confirmed.
We will install street signs at least 30 days before the cameras are turned on so people are aware. We will also inform local communities where new cameras are planned through blogs, web updates, and emails to families enrolled in these schools.
Here’s a quick summary of our process to expand traffic safety cameras, including school zone safety cameras. You can read more details in this previous blog post.
What to do if you get a ticket:
- Payments are due to the Seattle Municipal Court. You can find more detailed guidance on the Municipal Court’s website.
- There are several options for support if you can’t pay your ticket. People with limited incomes who receive government assistance may be eligible for reduced fines on their first safety camera infraction.
Funding safety investments
The primary goal of traffic safety cameras is to prevent dangerous and illegal driving behavior. While raising money isn’t the primary objective, we are committed to using all ticket revenue to fund safety improvement projects like new sidewalks, flashing beacons, crosswalks, and more.
This adds to the $161 million investment in transportation safety and $193 million dedicated to building and repairing sidewalks thanks to the voter-approved 2024 Seattle Transportation Levy. These funding sources all help contribute to our Safe Routes to School program which has already built at least one safety project at every public school in Seattle and has received national recognition for our child safety work through the U.S. Vision Zero for Youth Leadership Award.
As we continue building so many safety upgrades, it could potentially reduce the need for safety cameras in a particular location. We will monitor the effectiveness of the safety cameras over time and publish an annual evaluation report considering factors like whether illegal behavior decreases and crashes become less common. If this evaluation shows that there is another location where cameras are needed more, we can consider relocating the camera to where it can have the biggest safety benefit.
A comprehensive focus on safer travel
This work is part of Seattle’s Vision Zero goal to end traffic deaths and serious injuries on city streets. You can learn more about our Vision Zero Action Plan, which was updated in May 2024, or read this blog post. Our Safe Route to School Program also promotes safe travel around schools year-round.
Thank you for doing your part to travel at safe speeds to help keep our students safe around schools and whenever you travel.