[1]
Code reviser's note: As laid out in Ord. 1200, several sections were misnumbered. The numbers have been editorially corrected to reflect the intent of the City.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this section and each section of this chapter.
(a) 
"Automated traffic safety camera"
means a device that uses a vehicle sensor installed to work in conjunction with an intersection traffic control system, a railroad grade crossing control system, or 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 fails to stop when facing a steady red traffic control signal or an activated railroad grade crossing control signal, or exceeds a speed limit as detected by a speed measuring device. "Automated traffic safety camera" also includes a device used to detect stopping at intersection or crosswalk violations; stopping when traffic obstructed violations; public transportation only lane violations; stopping or traveling in restricted lane violations; and public transportation bus stop zone violations detected by a public transportation vehicle-mounted system.
(b) 
"Hospital speed zone"
means the marked area within hospital property and extending 300 feet from the border of the hospital property (1) consistent with hospital use; and (2) where signs are posted to indicate the location is within a hospital speed zone, where "hospital" has the same meaning as in RCW 70.41.020.
(c) 
"Public park speed zone"
means the marked area within public park property and extending 300 feet from the border of the public park property (1) consistent with active park use; and (2) where signs are posted to indicate the location is within a public park speed zone.
(d) 
"Public transportation vehicle"
means any motor vehicle, streetcar, train, trolley vehicle, ferry boat, or any other device, vessel, or vehicle that is owned or operated by a transit authority or an entity providing service on behalf of a transit authority that is used for the purpose of carrying passengers and that operates on established routes. "Transit authority" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 9.91.025.
(e) 
"Roadway work zone"
means an area of any city roadway, including state highways that are also classified as city streets under Chapter 47.24 RCW, or county road as defined in RCW 46.04.150, with construction, maintenance, or utility work with a duration of 30 calendar days or more. A roadway work zone is identified by the placement of temporary traffic control devices that may include signs, channelizing devices, barriers, pavement markings, and/or work vehicles with warning lights. A roadway work zone extends from the first warning sign or high intensity rotating, flashing, oscillating, or strobe lights on a vehicle to the end road work sign or the last temporary traffic control device or vehicle.
(f) 
"School speed zone"
has the same meaning as described in RCW 46.61.440(1) and (2).
(g) 
"School walk zone"
means a roadway identified under RCW 28A.160.160 or roadways within a one-mile radius of a school that students use to travel to school by foot, bicycle, or other means of active transportation.
(Ord. 1200, Sec. 1, 2025)
(a) 
City law enforcement officers and persons commissioned by the Lake Stevens Police Chief are authorized to use automated traffic cameras and related automated systems to detect and record the image of:
(1) 
School speed zone violations;
(2) 
Speed zone violations on any roadway identified in a school walk zone;
(3) 
Public park speed zone violations;
(4) 
Roadway work speed zone violations when workers are present;
(5) 
Hospital speed zones violations;
(6) 
Violations of traffic ordinances on state highways that are also classified as a city street under Chapter 47.24 RCW;
(7) 
Speed violations in locations the City Council has deemed high crash risk due to excessive vehicle speeds under RCW 46.63.250(3) restricting camera usage to one camera per 10,000 population; and
(8) 
Stoplight violations, subject to RCW 46.63.220.
(b) 
The City shall prepare an analysis of the locations within Lake Stevens where automated traffic safety cameras are proposed to be located before adding traffic safety cameras to a new location or relocating any existing camera to a new location within the jurisdiction. The analysis must include equity considerations including the impact of camera placement on livability, accessibility, economics, education, and environmental health when identifying where to locate an automated traffic safety camera. The analysis must also show a demonstrated need for traffic cameras based on one or more of the following in the vicinity of the proposed camera location: travel by vulnerable road users, evidence of vehicles speeding, rates of collision, reports showing near collisions, and anticipated or actual ineffectiveness or infeasibility of other mitigation measures.
(c) 
Automated traffic safety cameras may only take pictures of the vehicle and vehicle license plate and only while an infraction is occurring. Pictures taken by automated traffic safety cameras may not reveal the face of the driver or of the passengers in the vehicle. The installation of automated traffic safety cameras in a manner that minimizes the impact of camera flash on drivers must be considered by the City.
(d) 
The City shall clearly mark all locations where automated traffic safety cameras are in use by placing signs at least 30 days prior to activation of the camera in locations that clearly indicate to the driver that: (1) the driver is entering an area where automated traffic safety cameras are authorized; or (2) they are entering a zone where traffic laws are enforced by an automated traffic safety camera. The signs must be visible to a driver approaching an automated traffic safety camera. Signs must follow the specifications and guidelines under the manual of uniform traffic control devices for streets and highways as adopted by the Department of Transportation under Chapter 47.36 RCW.
(e) 
The City shall post an annual report on the City's website of the number of traffic crashes that occurred at each location where an automated traffic safety camera is located, as well as the number of notices of infraction issued for each camera. Beginning January 1, 2026, the annual report must include 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.
(f) 
The compensation paid to the manufacturer or vendor of the equipment used must be based only upon the value of the equipment and services provided or rendered in support of the system and may not be based upon a portion of the fine or civil penalty imposed or the revenue generated by the equipment. If the contract between the City and manufacturer or vendor of the equipment does not provide for performance or quality control measures regarding camera images, the City must perform a performance audit of the manufacturer or vendor of the equipment every three years to review and ensure that images produced from automated traffic safety cameras are sufficient for evidentiary purposes as described in Section 7.06.030.
(g) 
Revenue generated by an automated traffic safety camera program may only be used for:
(1) 
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.
(2) 
The cost to administer, install, operate, and maintain the automated traffic safety cameras, including the cost of processing infractions.
(3) 
If used for the purposes described in (g)(1) of this subsection the use of revenue must include the use of revenue in 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. Funding contributed from the traffic safety program revenue must be at a minimum proportionate to the share of the population of the City who are residents of these low-income communities and communities experiencing high injury crash rates. 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 automate traffic safety cameras, including the cost of processing infractions, are excluded from determination of the proportionate share of revenues under this subsection.
(4) 
Beginning four years after an automated traffic safety camera authorized under this section 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.
(h) 
The restrictions on the use of automated traffic safety cameras for enforcement of traffic violations set forth in this section and any other automated traffic safety camera policies adopted by the City shall be posted on the City's website.
(Ord. 1200, Sec. 1, 2025)
(a) 
Whenever any vehicle is photographed by an automated traffic safety camera, 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 a vehicle within 14 days of establishing the renter's name and address. A person receiving a notice of infraction based on evidence detected by an automated traffic safety camera may respond to the notice by mail.
(b) 
If the registered owner of the vehicle is a rental car business, the law enforcement agency shall, before a notice of infraction is issued, 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 agency by return mail: (1) a statement under oath stating the name and known mailing address of the individual driving or renting the vehicle when the infraction occurred; or (2) a statement under oath that the business is unable to determine who was driving or renting the vehicle when the infraction occurred; or (3) in lieu of identifying the vehicle operator, the rental car business may pay the applicable penalty. The timely mailing of this statement to the agency shall relieve the rental car business of any liability under this chapter for the infraction.
(c) 
The law enforcement officer issuing a notice of infraction shall include with it a certificate or facsimile thereof, based upon the inspection of photographs, microphotographs or electronic images produced by an automated traffic safety camera, citing the infraction and stating the facts supporting the notice of infraction. This certificate or facsimile shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained in it and shall be admissible in a proceeding charging a violation under this chapter. The photographs, microphotographs or electronic images evidencing the violation must be available for inspection and admission into evidence in a proceeding to adjudicate the liability for the infraction.
(d) 
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 Section 7.06.040, or, in the case of a rental car business, satisfies the conditions under subsection (b) of this section. If appropriate, a renter identified under subsection (b) of this section is responsible for an infraction.
(e) 
All photographs, microphotographs or electronic images prepared under this chapter are for the exclusive use of law enforcement in the discharge of duties under this chapter and, as provided in RCW 46.63.220(11), they 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. No photograph, microphotograph or electronic image may be used for any purpose other than enforcement of violations under this chapter nor retained longer than necessary to enforce this chapter.
(Ord. 1200, Sec. 1, 2025)
(a) 
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 the stoplight violation or 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.
(b) 
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. 1200, Sec. 1, 2025)
(a) 
The fine for an infraction detected under the authority of this chapter shall be a base monetary penalty of $145.00.
(b) 
Provided, that the fine for an infraction detected under the authority of this chapter for school speed zone cameras shall be as follows:
(1) 
A base monetary penalty of $145.00 for the first offense; and
(2) 
A base monetary penalty of $290.00 for repeat offenses; and
(3) 
A base monetary penalty of $290.00 for any offense in excess of 11 miles per hour over the posted school zone speed limit.
(c) 
The base monetary fine for all infractions shall automatically be adjusted for inflation every five years, beginning January 1, 2030, based on the changes in the consumer price index as calculated by the State Office of Financial Management for that time period.
(d) 
Except as provided in this subsection, 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 Program, and who request reduced penalties for infractions detected through the use of automated traffic safety camera violations, must 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. Registered owners of vehicles who receive notices of infraction must be provided with information on their eligibility and the opportunity to apply for a reduction in penalty amounts through the mail, through electronic mail or other accepted means.
(Ord. 1200, Sec. 1, 2025)
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.
(Ord. 1200, Sec. 1, 2025)