Story Photos
 Monty Jones of American Traffic Solutions monitors radar and camera from a laptop inside an ATS vehicle on Friday. Bill Wagner / The Daily News
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DOT construction zone speed cameras ready for action
Friday, September 5, 2008 11:30 PM PDT
By Leila Summers
Printable version
E-mail this articleCHEHALIS — Speeders beware: Starting in two weeks, you’ll get a $137 ticket if you zoom through the freeway construction zone in Lewis County, even if a state trooper doesn’t pull you over. You’ll be getting the bad news in the mail.
Washington State Department of Transportation officials Friday unveiled an automatic speed enforcement camera that will take pictures of vehicles that speed through the Interstate 5 construction zone. It will record the date, time, location and speed, and all that information will be mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner with a ticket.
The speed-monitoring camera is the first to be used on a state highway in Washington. It will be tested next week and go into operation Sept. 15 in the Napavine area.
Another camera will be put into service in the Grand Mound to Rush Road stretch of freeway in north Lewis County later this month.
The cameras are an attempt to improve safety in a construction zones, according to state highway officials.
“This is not a speed trap,” emphasized Ted Trepanier, a WSDOT traffic engineer. “This is meant to be an attention-getting device.”
“The whole goal of this project is to bring speeds down. We would be thrilled if there are no tickets if the speeds come down,” said WSDOT spokeswoman Alice Finman, who attended a joint State Patrol/WSDOT press conference and demonstration Friday at the Chehalis Airport.
The cameras are mounted in an SUV. Radars set for the threshold speed will trigger the cameras, which take a picture of the rear license plate of a vehicle. Although the vehicle is manned, the whole process is automatic.
Officials already have posted signs warning that the freeway in the Chehalis area is “speed limit photo enforced.”
WSDOT selected Lewis County for the pilot project because of its large traffic flow and because virtually all of Interstate 5 is being widened in Lewis County.
Between 2001 and 2006, fatal work zone collisions decreased 41 percent statewide, but other types of accidents rose 60 percent, according to WSDOT. Nearly 99 percent of the people injured or killed in work zone collisions are drivers or passengers, according to WSDOT.
If the pilot program proves successful, Trepanier said, WSDOT will consider using the cameras at other locations in Washington next year.
Traffic safety cameras are a growing trend across the U.S., Trepanier said.
Advancements in digital technology has helped the project catch on, said Ray Pedrosa, senior project manager for American Traffic Solutions.
What if ...
.. I am the registered owner but was not the driver who was speeding?
Tickets written out as a result of the speed enforcement camera program are sent to the registered owner. Registered owners can sign a declaration stating they were not the driver and would be required to provide the name of the offending driver.
... I’m only going 1 or 2 mph over the speed limit?
It’s unlikely you’ll get a ticket, but you never know. Troopers are after the worst speed offenders. Radars will be set to trip the speed enforcement cameras at threshold speeds designated by the state patrol. That threshold will depend on location and driving habits in a given area.
... I’m speeding side by side with someone else? Do both of us get the ticket, or does one of us get away?
If you trip the radar at the same moment, the camera can only take a picture of one vehicle at a time, meaning one of you gets away. It’s hard to tell who is the lucky one.
... If I want to challenge the ticket?
You would challenge it the same way you challenge any speeding ticket. Check a box on the citation and mail it in to ask for a court date.
Source: Washington State Department of Transportation
Rural Citizen wrote on Sep 6, 2008 8:52 AM:
Why don't we change the speed back to 55mph to save gas and make the roads safer?
If safety is the issue, why don't the big trucks and RV's get tickets for passing in the number one lane at speeds above 70mph?
Big rigs passing each other to gain 1 minute of time are always causing hazardous conditions on the road. What is wrong with a state that will focus on speeders ONLY and ignore the unsafe practices of most of the truckers who pass through our state?
Once again, unsafe and unfair. "
viper wrote on Sep 6, 2008 9:31 AM:
that speed thru construction zones as there are plenty of them,to bad it can't catch them talking on there cell phones at the same time would be great if it could : Viper "
avery's mom wrote on Sep 6, 2008 9:55 AM:
Atrucker wrote on Sep 6, 2008 11:33 AM:
Most of the long haulers drive more miles than you will ever see and in horrible road conditions we do not even get out here . I would trust these guys any day before I would a 4 wheeler.
Some parts of that road had the shoulder closed to trucks , thus they are out in the hammer lane , or some one is driving really slow , which I see often in that area . They are a big problem too. "
srd275 wrote on Sep 6, 2008 11:47 AM:
1. Private Company rewarded on how much they write.
2. Won't even mention what the trigger speeds are so they can change them to keep their ticket revenue high.
3. Completely ignoring the fact that if most people are driving faster than the speed limit, maybe the speed limit is too low for conditions.
Finally. Was there ever a public vote on this. No of course not. Do you really think that ATS the Washington State Police want to a public vote on this?
Of course they don't, they know they would loose.
So I say, WE DEMAND A VOTE!
Check this site out: http://www.wedemandavote.com/ Out of Ohio. "
COE wrote on Sep 6, 2008 11:56 AM:
frankenzombie wrote on Sep 6, 2008 12:05 PM:
Mrs. Pellwerds wrote on Sep 6, 2008 12:48 PM:
DUH wrote on Sep 6, 2008 12:55 PM:
So I say, WE DEMAND A VOTE! Vote on what? whether you can break the speed limit or not? No matter how you're ticketed, you're ticketed because you break the law. Get over it and pay the fine if you get one. I can't believe all the whining because now you be less likely to get away with speeding. You sure can tell who the law breakers are when stories like this are printed. The freeways are patrolled by the Washington State Patrol. Of which there aren't enough to patrol every inch of every mile of highway in the state. Cameras are an excellent and less expensive way of catching speeders than hiring more patrolmen. "
viper wrote on Sep 6, 2008 9:11 PM:
how do you like people speeding up and down your street and not paying attention to what there doing, same here speeding in a CONSTRUCTION ZONE is a bad choice! there is a reason that they post a LOWER speed for construction zones to keep people safe! Is one minute of your time worth someones life ?: Viper "
DW wrote on Sep 7, 2008 11:55 AM:
justa_name wrote on Sep 7, 2008 3:20 PM:
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