No workers in sight but you still got a ticket? Here’s how work zone speed cameras actually work

The state debuted work zone speed cameras more than a year ago, and it sounds like many drivers still don’t understand how they work. You only have a few weeks to figure it out because the fines are going up.

On its face, the state work zone speed camera program seems pretty straightforward.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has small mobile cameras attached to SUVs by a trailer hitch, and they go from work zone to work zone to try to keep the speeds down. WSDOT puts up a sign that warns drivers that there is a camera and the speed limit. For the cameras to be active, workers need to be in the work zone.

Simple, right?

Several drivers who have been tagged by these mobile cameras have reached out to KIRO Newsradio to ask why they received a ticket. A friend of KIRO host John Curley reached out a few months ago. A friend of KIRO host Gee Scott reached out a few weeks ago.

Both drivers were hit by the cameras in the work zone on Highway 18 between Tiger Mountain and I-90. Both drivers said the same thing, paraphrasing: “I didn’t see any workers. Why did I get a citation?”

That led me to reach out to WSDOT and the Washington State Patrol (WSP) for some granular explanations about what “workers must be present” means and if they have to be anywhere near the mobile speed camera.

How work zone speed cameras operate, and why the rules are changing July 1

Here’s what I found. The work zone can be 100 yards long or 100 miles long; as long as there is one worker present in that zone, you can get a citation. That SR 18 work zone is about two miles long. There is no proximity requirement in the RCW or WAC. The workers don’t have to be anywhere near the camera. They just need to be somewhere inside the work zone, and those workers don’t have to be visible.

As WSDOT told me, “that’s why we tell people you should always assume a work zone is active when you enter it.”

If you see the sign that camera enforcement is underway, you risk a citation if you’re speeding, whether you see workers or not. WSP does review each citation, and having workers present is part of the “evidence package.”

Why is this important?

First of all, you shouldn’t be speeding in work zones. Everyone deserves to get home safely on the roads. Secondly, the rules are changing on July 1. The first citation will no longer be free.

“Right now, it’s a zero fine on the first one,” WSP Director of Public Affairs Chris Loftis said. “The second one, you get $248. Starting July 1, the first one’s going to move from $0 to $125.”

The second citation will remain $248 after July 1.

I’ve heard from a lot of you about this program, and you think the state is just looking for fast and cheap money. WSP has caught more than 77,000 drivers speeding in these work zones in the first year.

“We’re not in the punish you business,” Loftis said. “We’re not in the fine you business. We’re in the slow you down business and save your life business. We’re in the save the life of the people working on the side of the roads business.”

WSDOT will start deploying these mobile cameras east of the Cascades on July 1, starting near Spokane. It plans to have 10 of them operating around the state by July, and 15 by 2027.

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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