Seattle drivers face hefty fine for ‘jerkish’ behavior

The City of Seattle is fed up with drivers blocking traffic. So much so, that it plans to start cracking down on people who stop in busy intersections.

Drivers will face a $136 ticket for blocking an intersection once enforcement starts, according to The Seattle Times.

City officials have counted hundreds of violations per day in at least five intersections.

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The issue will be discussed during a Seattle City Council committee meeting on Thursday.

The worst of these crossings is at Fairview and Valley, an intersection just off Mercer Street, with nearly 240 violations. Drivers jockey for position from Valley and Fairview to advance to the I-5 junction. Because of the setup, space between Mercer Street and Valley Street is commonly full during commute hours, forcing traffic into the intersection.

Also, among “the worst” intersections in Seattle are Howell and Ninth; Fremont and 34th; Fifth and Mercer; Mercer and Westlake; Rainier and Forest; and Mercer and Dexter.

The issue of drivers “blocking the box” has irritated council member Sally Bagshaw enough for her to voice her opinion on her blog. In her post, she writes that the issue of blocking intersections isn’t new, and it’s not being enforced.

It’s an issue that not only impacts drivers, but pedestrians. People trying to cross a street are forced to weave through cars driven by irritated and “antsy” people.”

“The police need to enforce these types of violations and I am asking our Seattle Police Department to put this on their priority list starting immediately,” Bagshaw writes.

The city will begin with educating drivers about the fines before citations are handed out. It wants to give drivers “every opportunity to comply.” Enforcement could begin starting in October, with police using data to determine where the highest amount of violations are.

“Drivers should be charged significant fines for increasing our already miserable traffic congestion,” Bagshaw writes. “If we need more cameras at key intersections, I say put ‘em up. Just like we’ve done for school zones, more ‘block the box’ cameras should be in place to stop this jerkish driving behavior if enhanced police enforcement doesn’t work.”

Meanwhile, pedestrians have another problem to deal with.