Washington Traffic Law Blog : Washington Traffic Lawyer & Attorney : Jon Zimmerman Law Firm : Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma

As drivers begin travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, they should be aware that law enforcement will be joining them on the roadway in places such as Seattle, Everett, and Tacoma, and points in between. A couple years ago I wrote about the Thanksgiving holiday weekend being the worst for traffic fatalities. Add more cars to the road, families in confined spaces over long distances, and the sometimes-complicated dynamics of family get-togethers and a recipe exists for distracted drivers and traffic violations. What this usually means is more collisions, more traffic tickets for violations of following too closely, failure to control speed to avoid a collision, speeding, negligent driving, and failing to yield to an emergency vehicle or violations of emergency zones. Whatever the reason for the police pulling someone over, expect a greater emphasis on enforcement.   Below are a few tips for trying to avoid getting cited over the holiday weekend in the State of Washington. 

First, drop the cell phone. Cell phones are a major reason people get pulled over. Distracted or not, and whether you are actually holding the phone to your ear will be secondary to the police officer who pulls you over when the officer sees you holding a cell phone. If you have a Bluetooth-enabled device consider using this, but do not dial or text while driving or even while in traffic. Avoiding these behaviors will save you some hassle.  

Second, if you drink let someone else do the driving. Despite the fact that it is legal to drink and drive in the State of Washington (with limitations, of course), you can be below a .08 and still be charged with DUI or an alcohol-related offense. Thanksgiving is a holiday when law enforcement is going to be serious about enforcement, and you can be serious about your driving. Stay over at a friend’s or family member’s house if you drink over the holiday weekend. Even if you only have a drink, if you are in any collision (even one not your fault) and this causes a police response, the investigation will be longer if the odor of alcohol is detected or you exhibit any signs of impairment. 

Third, try to reduce speed and switch lanes prior to 200 feet, if safe to do so, before you catch up to visible emergency responders, including tow trucks, police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks. Under RCW 46.61.212, you can be cited for an enhanced traffic infraction, and if you put or were likely to put an emergency worker in danger, you can be charged with the gross misdemeanor of reckless endangerment of an emergency worker.  Slowing down and creating an extra lane between your vehicle and an emergency response vehicle are good ways to avoid these types of traffic offenses. Of course, if you get cited, you can send me an e-mail or call me for help.

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Speeding in a school zone, defined in RCW 46.61.440 and by many equivalent municipal codes, is a type of traffic infraction that many drivers receive in the State of Washington, though tickets for this type of offense are frequent in Lake Forest Park, Seattle, and jurisdictions throughout King County. This post focuses on some tips to avoid these infractions, what it means if you get a school zone ticket, and what you should do (and shouldn’t do) with a school zone ticket. 

These tickets are most frequently-issued in two types of ways: (1) by a law enforcement officer observing the speeding, pulling over the driver, and issuing a citation or (2) by a camera taking a photo of a license plate (also known as a traffic camera citation). As of the date of this post, traffic camera citations do not affect the driving records and privileges of drivers who receive these citations Washington. 

To avoid these infractions, drivers should take special notice any time drivers are entering a school zone and reduce speed to no more than 20 MPH. Reducing speed is a critical tip for parents because parents are frequently in school zones and dropping off and picking up children at school. Police officers love to pull parents over and issue parents tickets for speeding in a school zone, even for driving 25 MPH. 

Sometimes, it is difficult to know the location where a school zone begins: for example, in some jurisdictions, there is a sign that says “School Ahead” or “Reduce Speed to 20 MPH,” but in other jurisdictions it is not as obvious, and rarely if ever is there a sign that states “School Zone Begins.” Signs are indications that a driver is about to enter a school zone. Another indication is a sign that specifically mentions that there is a traffic camera. Traffic cameras are often attached to speed measurement devices around school zones. In addition to reducing speed to no more than 20 MPH and looking for signage, drivers might want to avoid school zone areas entirely during certain times of day, typically in the early morning or mid-afternoon, when students are going to and leaving school. Another way to avoid a school zone ticket is to drive on streets where there are no, school zones may extend 300 feet from the school or playground property, as well as 300 feet from a marked school or playground crosswalk. 

If you receive a school zone ticket, one thing you should know is that you cannot mitigate a school zone ticket. Although mitigation is an option on the ticket, mitigation is actually not an option under Washington law for this type of infraction. The reason is that the Legislature decided that a person who is found to have committed an infraction (either by admitting to the infraction by mitigating, paying the ticket, or after a contested hearing) shall not have the penalty waived, reduced, or suspended. Therefore, if you want a reduced penalty for the infraction, you will not get one because mitigation is not an option. Do NOT mitigate.  DO contest your infraction so that it can be challenged to avoid higher insurance and marks on your driving record.  

In addition to not being able to mitigate your fine, the fine in a school zone speeding ticket is higher than a normal speeding ticket. Although regular speeding tickets are also moving violations, drivers who get speeding tickets in a school zone face more serious consequences. If you have received any type of speeding offense, contact my office for help.   

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Traffic tickets for driving in the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane are very common on Highway 520 and interstates such as I-90, I-405, and I-5 in the State of Washington, where the Washington State Patrol is out in force looking to pull people over and cite them with HOV infractions. In fact, this type of offense has become so popular with the police and the public that Seattle Times staff reporter Christina Clarridge recently wrote a story about “Mad Dog,” the license plate and nickname of an alleged persistent HOV offender, HOV tickets, and how the public works with Washington State government and law enforcement to make sure more HOV tickets are issued. 

Although the State Patrol, through its spokesman, apparently doesn’t put a high priority on HOV offenders (translation: the State Patrol doesn’t want to admit that they put a high priority on HOV tickets), the State of Washington contributes significant resources to HOV lanes, keeping track of alleged violators, and making sure tickets are issued, especially in King County. In case you were wondering, this is where your highway tax dollars go. 

HOV-lane tickets are a bit unusual in that the State of Washington encourages the public to call a phone number, 877-764-HERO—also known as the HERO hotline—in order to report the license plates of alleged HOV-lane offenders. The phone number has been in existence since 1984 and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) accepts reports of alleged HOV violators, runs license plates of reported violator vehicles, and then mails brochures and letters to the owners of the vehicles (which may or may not be the drivers). WSDOT also reports license plates to the Washington State Patrol so that the police can be on the lookout for frequently reported vehicles.   

Although the police can cite any driver they observe unlawfully in an HOV lane, calls to the HERO line do not result in the issuance of a citation. On the first complaint, WSDOT sends a brochure, followed by a letter after the second complaint. On the third complaint, the Washington State Patrol sends a letter. The article states that

Typically the police cite drivers under RCW 46.61.165, the HOV lane statute, when the police view an individual driving as a single occupant in a restricted, HOV lane with diamond markings, but also when there are two occupants in a lane restricted to three occupants. 

In fact, I get a lot of phone calls about HOV tickets. Most of the time drivers ask me if tickets for driving in the HOV are moving violations. Indeed, in Washington, HOV infractions are moving offenses that affect a person’s insurance and driving privilege, just like a speeding ticket or failure to yield violation. 

If you have received an HOV ticket and want to fight it, contact me by e-mail or by phone.  

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