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

Mayor Mike McGinn wants to punish business districts and drivers in Seattle by raising hourly parking rates to the highest of any city in the U.S.  In addition, the Mayor is advocating the issuance of more tickets.  Plenty of people--residents and visitors alike--are upset about this move.  

But first a personal story, gentle reader.  A few days ago, I parked my car in Seattle’s Eastlake neighborhood.  After I left an appointment and returned to my car, I noticed one of Seattle’s finest—a parking enforcement officer (PEO) with an Interceptor motor vehicle—pulled up next to my vehicle.  As I was getting ready to hop in my car and drive away, the PEO yelled out to me and asked me: “Why are you parked in a bus lane”? 

I had to explain that I was not parked in a bus lane.  Our parking enforcement officer wanted to know how this could be, so I literally walked around my vehicle to the curb, pointed to the painted sidewalk demarcating the bus lane, pointed to my vehicle that was parked against uncolored concrete, and I explained to him that I was not in violation of any bus lane ordinance.  I also suggested—in my kindest and gentlest tone—that the PEO could write me a ticket, and I would subpoena him to court so that we could discuss the matter further, if he should like.  I wanted to give him options. 

The PEO was very pleasant (which is unusual) and asked me how the bus might get into the bus lane if a vehicle is parked next to it; however, this isn’t my problem, and the lane is long enough for a bus to easily get in and out.  The parking space is legal, King County Metro has buses that drive on city streets where the buses stand and park in bus lanes, and drivers parked nearby but outside the bus lane are—shocking as though it may be to Seattle’s parking enforcement community—legally parked.   

But Mayor McGinn supports zealous—overzealous—enforcement of parking laws, to the point where PEOs are actually issuing tickets to legally parked vehicles.  I know because I was about to get one such bogus ticket.  Forget the fact that parking tickets don’t affect auto insurance premiums like tickets for speeding, HOV, negligent driving, or failing to signal a lane change.  Mayor McGinn wants to punish drivers not to increase public safety, but rather to increase more revenue for the City and punish drivers who choose to work, shop, dine, and do business in Seattle. 

Mayor McGinn’s master plan, according to Chris Grygiel of Seattlepi.com:  raise public parking rates to a high of $4/hour, spend $28,000 for red light photo enforcement, and issue more tickets.  It makes no difference to the Mayor that total tickets are up 23 percent in the last five years or that fines are projected to increase 17 percent for all of 2010. 

One of the biggest problems with Mayor McGinn’s (some have called him Mayor McSchwinn) plan is that all drivers are asked to subsidize pedestrians and bicyclists.  Some may think this is a great idea, but the roads were not designed or paved for bicyclists, yet in Seattle we still allow bicyclists to use the parts of the roadway designed for motor vehicle travel (this may seem normal to most people, but there are locations where roadway use is much more restricted).  To be fair, I like helping pedestrians and bicyclists too, but I do not believe drivers should be treated as a third-class citizenry meant to pay for everyone else.  Charging drivers to throw down some paint to create bike lanes might make bicyclists safer, but narrower vehicular roadways, elimination of vehicular lanes, more Interceptor parking enforcement vehicles, and no decrease in the number of motor vehicles on the road do not ease congestion, traffic, or make riding a bike an easier mode of transportation.  Increasing parking rates in a bad economy also angers businesses and drivers alike.  This has the result of increasing traffic in neighborhoods such as Northgate and areas around the U-Village while also sending business outside Seattle, to places such as Bellevue and Redmond.  

And in case the Mayor didn’t notice, as I mentioned in a previous blog post Mukilteo voters want to stop red-light camera tickets and photo enforcement.  I do not believe Seattle voters, given the opportunity, would react any differently. 

Mayor McGinn calls his critics “conservatives”—apparently anyone who criticizes the City for not acting enough like a business.  But higher parking fees for greater congestion (which will be increased when shoppers flock to downtown stores after 6:00 P.M. to avoid $4/hour downtown parking rates) or anyone who wants to avoid the overzealous issuance of a parking ticket.  

Mayor McGinn's message:  Welcome to Seattle, here's an (undeserved) parking ticket before you leave. 

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The 2010 midterm and state elections were significant:  nearly two dozen state legislatures changed control, more than 60 Repubicans were swept into the U.S. House (including at least one member-elect who has earned a lot of speeding tickets), and here in the State of Washington we had several voter initiatives at the state and local levels ranging from privitization of liquor sales, increasing the sales tax, creation of a state income tax, school levies, and--for a first in the State of Washington--a measure to make it much harder for the City of Mukilteo to install and generate income on red-light and speed enforcement traffic cameras.  But before we get to Mukilteo, let's talk about South Dakota. 

SOUTH DAKOTA

Leading the pack (literally!) of members-elect in the 112th Congress will be Kristi Noem, a farmer, rancher, hunting lodge owner, restaurant manager, and now South Dakota's at-large member-elect to the United States House of Representatives.  Congresswoman-elect Noem defeated Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, but Noem didn't win without her driving record making national headlines.  The South Dakota Democratic Party created what has to be one of the most amusing political hit websites of the 2010 cycle, chronicling Kristi Noem's driving, arrest warrant, and ticket history, along with a fantastic YouTube video in which candidate Noem states: "It's always kind of been in my nature to be in a hurry and get things done." 

I can't tell which I like better:  the video, the map (with audio as you scroll over it) of Noem's violations, arrest warrants, and failures to appear, or the fact that South Dakota voters really don't care whether their sole representative to the U.S. House drives a little fast. 

A few observations:  if you speed, South Dakota voters will probably forgive you.  About 30 speeding tickets?  Not a problem if you want to represent South Dakota!   If you are in Congress representing South Dakota and run through a stop sign and kill a motorcyclist, however, a South Dakota jury will likely convict you of manslaughter and you will probably go to jail, as happened to Bill Janklow a few years ago. 

Second, if you're Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, you get defeated repeatedly by those who speed like Janklow and Noem.  Apparently speeding tickets are not disincentives for getting elected to congressional office and candidates might actually do better in their electoral pursuits to rack up a few tickets.  

In the words of Congresswoman-elect Noem, "[B]e in a hurry and gets things done"! 

Third, if you're a family member who lost a loved one to a member of Congress's heavy foot, and the member of Congress kills your loved one while on official business, consider suing the United States Government and not the member of Congress, who will likely be protected from monetary damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act. 

Finally, my advice for Congresswoman-elect Noem - if you get stopped for speeding after you're sworn into office, consider invoking Article I, section 6, clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States:

Senators and Representatives . . . shall in all cases except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their attendance at the Sessions of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same...

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MUKILTEO

The big news out of Mukilteo on Election Day is that Mukilteo voters are fed up with red-light cameras.  In fact, voters there also don't want speed cameras.  Like other jurisdictions across the United States, Mukilteo believes that traffic enforcement via camera technology is unnecessary.  So voters there decided to limit fines from these cameras to $20 per infraction, while making it much more difficult to install cameras in the future (two-thirds council vote, followed by a public vote to ratify council action).  There is a hope that Mukilteo's action might spur voter initiatives to end traffic "safety" cameras statewide.  Stay tuned.   

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Earlier this week Seattle Times reporter Danny Westneat wrote about his frustration and how his driving habits have changed--for the worse--since Seattle decided to put up red-light cameras.

Since drivers call me daily to talk about red-light camera traffic tickets that motorists have received in the mail (and no one has called me happy to have received such a gift), it is important to note that a red-light camera traffic ticket has no effect on insurance premiums, although if a driver is stopped by a police officer and cited for a red light violation, this latter type of violation does have consequences to insurance costs.

Seattle joins other cities like Auburn, Bellevue, Bremerton, Burien, Federal Way, Fife, Issaquah, Lacey, Lake Forest Park, Lakewood, Lynnwood, Monroe, Moses Lake, Puyallup, Renton, Seatac, Spokane, Tacoma, and Wenatchee in having some form of automated traffic camera devices.

Westneat makes many good observations (more after the jump).

Continue Reading...

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In perhaps the largest targeting of red-light runners in the State of Washington, Seattle will soon add red-light cameras at 18 more intersections in 2008, more than quadrupling the number of intersections added in 2006-2007. Last year, the City gained more than $1 million from red-light cameras. Some Seattle officials think that stepped-up enforcement will make people safer, even though a City study noted that accidents per intersection INCREASED even after the City added cameras at four intersections in 2006, although mainstream media outlets such as the Seattle Times and the Seattle PI have failed to report this fact, according to thenewspaper.com , a journal of the politics of driving. What is clear is that the City stands to make millions of dollars off of red-light tickets this year. Unhappy about this? City Council Member Nick Lacata wants citizen tax dollars to pay for an additional 24 cameras in 2009 (why not an even hundred Nick?!?!?!). Seattle is not alone - Puyallup will add the cameras in February, with monetary penalties beginning in Puyallup in March. Lakewood and Lynnwood already use cameras for enforcement.

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