READER REPORT: Speed enforcement on Sylvan Way

Yes, Seattle Police do still issue traffic citations. Sylvan Way neighbor Sam, who often shares news of traffic situations, sent the photo, reporting that motorcycle officers have been out on Sylvan twice so far today, pulling over drivers – by Sam’s count, at least six in the past half-hour.

38 Replies to "READER REPORT: Speed enforcement on Sylvan Way"

  • Jort February 5, 2021 (1:52 pm)

    It’s so sad that this enforcement is so infrequent and rare that it gets a special mention online. Despite fewer people driving last year, drivers in Seattle killed 24 people on our streets. More must be done to stop this deadly scourge, including automated speed ticketing and severe penalties for violations on every road in the city.

    • Dunno February 5, 2021 (6:44 pm)

      Now you like funding the police?   I don’t get it at all.  Criminals run free in our system, but go over 25 mph on a street that used to be 35, or drive at all and Jort is not happy with you?   You will pay for your crime.  Ticket and higher car insurance.   Jort, you need to become our next mayor of Seattle.  Just be sure to show equity in Justice for all?

      • Jort February 5, 2021 (11:40 pm)

        No. Specifically, I said I like funding automated speed ticketing, which would require FEWER police on the street and LESS funding for police. Why have a police officer waste time writing 3 or 4 tickets an hour when you could have a camera enforce the law to 100 percent efficiency 100 percent of the time on 100 percent of the drivers? You could probably bring in a few quadrillion dollars in revenue from people speeding on 35th every few hours. I strongly support automated speed enforcement with graduated penalties, and with any luck this will be coming to Seattle streets within my lifetime and people will be literally forced to obey or they will be forced to stop driving recklessly. All of this … without police. It’s not complicated. Drive the speed limit or don’t drive. Period.

        • jay February 6, 2021 (10:51 am)

          Sounds like a technocratic utopia I would never want to live in.

          • bill February 6, 2021 (6:02 pm)

            Works fine in Europe. But why would we want a better quality of life when we have freedumb?

    • G-Reg-Ory February 6, 2021 (1:08 pm)

      I am rarely disgusted enough to comment on WSB, but I think opinions like Jort’s are part of what often makes living in the “new Seattle” an incrementally more abysmal and mentally numbing experience. It’s ironic what an incredible combination of open-mindedness we seem to have here for racial and cultural diversity (let’s include homelessness, mental illness, drug addiction, etc. too ) but seemingly precious left for diversity of…human driving patterns?  No, let’s just sic the robots on the flawed humans! Jort basically proposes that “totalitarian control via robotics” is viable because it might save lives (I use the the t-word because where exactly do we stop on this rationale?).  But where is the concern  for the quality of those lives?  Should we ask Big Brother?  He always knows best. Right Jort?

      • bill February 6, 2021 (6:03 pm)

        Where is your concern for the quality of life ruined in car crashes by irresponsible speeding drivers?

        • G-Reg-Ory February 7, 2021 (11:36 am)

          Of course, I must have left that concern in my other uniform.You see, judging by Bill’s “argument”, as long as the number of traffic fatalities recedes, it’s of little or no concern whether anything else in our little society diminishes, or drifts towards increasing totalitarian tendencies, or less ability to exercise agency, or  even functionality, period. This occurs in a world that apparently wants many of us to accomplish something, ironically, in order to survive. And apparently, to argue against unfettered use of robot spy-cams means you must have no concern at all for those who have lost their lives in traffic accidents. It’s a ridiculous argument. The situation is not either/or; it is a question of balance.

  • Nearby resident February 5, 2021 (2:24 pm)

    Thank you spd! But why is this so rare?

  • skeeter February 5, 2021 (2:41 pm)

    Praise God!  Drivers on Sylvan are going waaaay too fast.  I hope SPD writes a couple hundred tickets.  

  • Amy February 5, 2021 (2:50 pm)

    Woot! 

  • Karen February 5, 2021 (3:11 pm)

    I hope they ticket every jerk who has tailgated or harassed me and anyone else for driving the speed limit on that road!

  • Lola February 5, 2021 (3:39 pm)

    I also saw two motorcycle cops at 12 noon today right by City Light by some bushes.  Not sure who they were going to catch at that time as you could not even do the posted Speed Limit of 30 since there are so many cars and trucks down there at that time.  

  • flimflam February 5, 2021 (3:44 pm)

    Why warn people?

    • WSB February 5, 2021 (3:55 pm)

      This isn’t a “warning.” This is a report.

      Also of note: So often, people inaccurately complain that police “never enforce.” If they never hear about enforcement, how will they know? Plus, as police themselves have pointed out in explaining why they’re not opposed to people hearing about enforcement efforts, if hearing about enforcement causes even one person to not speed – that’s one less driver endangering someone else’s life. – TR

    • Pessoa February 6, 2021 (8:10 pm)

      Flim: Because a ticket can be an onerous financial obligation during a time of stress and economic uncertainty, as well as negatively effecting one’s insurance rates.  It’s the type of concern we should feel for others,  like the concern you expect from people over being held “hostage” by your employer, worried that quitting over Covid-19 will leave you unable to pay the bills.  

  • Pal February 5, 2021 (4:05 pm)

    When I was growing up in Seattle there were known speed traps. High school drivers shared this information and  slowed down in those locations on the off-chance there would be a motorcycle cop. Popular location: Elliott Ave/15th Ave W,  W. Marginal, Nickerson.   Does anyone else remember speed traps being a common thing?  I have seen them quite a bit on Aurora but nothing like in the olden days. 

    • Peter S. February 5, 2021 (4:51 pm)

      Speed traps on the downhill of Admiral Way, west of California Ave, were also relatively common.  Some enterprising kids would sometimes stake out on bikes with one holding a cardboard sign saying “Speed trap ahead.”  The other kid would hold a sign around the corner past the trap saying “Donations gratefully accepted.”  Paid pretty well :)     

      • Auntie February 5, 2021 (7:36 pm)

        I can’t tell you how many tickets I got from speed traps on westbound, downhill Admiral Way in the 70s. I was on a first name basis with the motorcycle cop on that beat and he always rolled his eyes at me as he wrote out the ticket. Sometimes drivers coming uphill would blink their headlights to indicate “speed trap ahead,” but I didn’t always slow down in time. 

    • Trickycoolj February 5, 2021 (10:17 pm)

      Boeing got them to do speed traps at the bottom of the South Park bridge by East Marginal.  Those were always entertaining mornings in the office.  There have definitely been a few airborne cars that have landed in the parking lot across East Marginal in the last few years.

  • Peter S. February 5, 2021 (4:20 pm)

    As a side note:  A SPD traffic enforcement officer friend recently told me that SPD no longer uses mobile radar.  It’s all Laser / Lidar now, which is much more targeted than radar.   That means unless you use very sophisticated (and expensive) detection and jamming technology, your radar detector, if it can even detect laser, will only let you know you’ve been busted.   Consider yourself warned if you’ve been lulled into a false sense of protection because your radar detector alerts for all those flashing speed signs.

    • Peter S. February 5, 2021 (4:59 pm)

      meant to say “stealth than radar”

  • helpermonkey February 5, 2021 (4:43 pm)

    ok, do California Ave next. 

  • Youngstown February 5, 2021 (4:48 pm)

    Send em over to Genesee st. by the golf course. I swear people think I enjoy backing out of my driveway while they literally blast 60 down the street. Lots of parents of toddlers there too

  • CarDriver February 5, 2021 (5:32 pm)

    What part of Calif. Ave needs radar. Certainly not needed between the junction and the Admiral district.

  • namercury February 5, 2021 (5:56 pm)

    SDOT has set the speed limits too low to be reasonable on many streets.  For example, 30mph on West Marginal way and 25mph on the Admiral hill.  The intuitive “natural limit” is faster; few obey the unnatural, low SDOT limits.  SDOT should be more realistic.  With unnaturally low limits, enforcement is in effect a “speed trap” unless traffic police give some slack, which they often do.  Most of the serious accidents involve speeders much exceeding the limit; those people are going to exceed any SDOT reasonable limit.  

    • Joe Z February 5, 2021 (8:38 pm)

      That’s why everyone has been asking for more speed bumps and other passive means of naturally slowing down cars so the new speed limits are obeyed. 

      • I can't drive 25 February 5, 2021 (9:55 pm)

        I promise you not “everyone” is asking for more ridiculous speed bumps and other punitive nimby crap… just the loud people. The rest of us are forced to deal with them when the loud minority get their way.

        • G-Reg-Ory February 7, 2021 (12:07 pm)

          Agree. Thank you for speaking up.

  • Patience February 5, 2021 (6:04 pm)

    They can also watch for non-compliant drivers.  I was driving up Holden St. from 16th and stopped at 12th Ave SW when the crosswalk light started flashing.  A teenager was trying to cross and at least 5 drivers heading westbound DID NOT STOP, so, he had to wait until the 6th car stopped.  Also it is frustrating that drivers block side streets on Holden between 9th & 16th when traffic is stopped.  Driving is a privilege not a selfish act.Thank you SPD.

  • Pessoa February 5, 2021 (6:40 pm)

    Driving habits and attitudes tell you a lot about a city’s inhabitants, and the comments here reinforce my impressions of Seattle drivers, and people.   In Los Angeles and to an extent the East Coast,  it’s “we’re in this together,” an even if you are irritated about speeders no one want someone else  get their day ruined with a ticket.  Good grief, schadenfreude runs deep here.  

    • G-Reg-Ory February 7, 2021 (12:08 pm)

      Glad I’m not the only one who noticed this.

  • anonyme February 6, 2021 (7:30 am)

    Also related to modern, self-centered entitled attitudes is the notion that speed limits ONLY affect drivers.  They do not.  Most of these streets are through neighborhoods lined with houses quite close to the street.  Speed affects the safety of pedestrians, children, animals, and creates excessive noise.  Even 5 mph makes a difference.  We may live in a country that still worships the automobile (second only to money) but non-driving citizens and neighbors have rights, too.  The fact that so many jerks ignore both the law and the safety of other people to feed their selfish need for speed is not a justification.

  • Mike February 6, 2021 (7:48 am)

    Thanks SPD!

  • KCB February 6, 2021 (12:42 pm)

    Waste of time. Stick to the side streets. We don’t need speed enforcement on big arterial. In fact, we need people to focus, get off the damn phone and drive faster on arterials. It’s ridiculous. Then you have jackasses driving 50 down my tiny street in Highland Park. 

  • Mj February 6, 2021 (12:58 pm)

    Joe Z the City has zero technical data to support the lowering of the speed limits on Arterials.  At issue is excessive speeds and the change in numbers on a sign does zero to change this and in fact when the new numbers are way out of line with what prudent users believe to be reasonable it reduces safety for all users.

  • namercury February 7, 2021 (4:00 am)

    I agree with MJ above.  I use to try to limit my speed to 40mph on W Marginal Way when the limit was 40.  The newer 30mph is just too slow.  I (and almost everyone else) don’t even try to stay at 30mph and, as a consequence, often end up maintaining a speed of about 40mph or above.   

  • Millie February 7, 2021 (2:36 pm)

    I agree with  MJ  also.  The City with its’ “Safe Streets” initiative has exacerbated the situation with their lowering of the speed limit on main arterials to 25 mph.   Add to the lower speed limits,  drivers that have never followed any rules  (due to sense of self-entitlement) and you have potential dangerous situations. Within the past two days, driving to work, I have watched drivers go through “red” lights,  speed across the First Avenue South Bridge in excess of 70 miles (est.), use the center lane as their personal lane, etc.    Add SDOT’s policies and entitled drivers and you end up with our current situation.   To be transparent, I find it extremely difficult to come downhill on Roxbury at 25 mph.  So, yes,  I experience the “Slow Down” flashing light.

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