Beginning at approximately 7:00 a.m. and running all day and evening today, officers of the Seattle Police Department and Washington State Patrol conducted a traffic safety emphasis patrol on Aurora Avenue North. The emphasis patrol focused its efforts on the stretch of road from the Battery Street Tunnel in downtown Seattle to North 145th Street.
Here is a synopsis of the contacts and violations encountered by officers and troopers from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. today:
Total violations – 577
Total warnings – 189
Total speeders – 280
Top speeder of the day – 66 mph in a 40 mph zone
Tickets issued for the following violations:
No insurance – 71
Cell phone – 57
Speeding in a School zone (speed van) – 42
No seatbelt – 28
Aggressive driving – 19
No Driver’s License – 19
Unsafe Lane Change – 16
Illegal turns – 15
Failure to Obey Signs – 13
School Zone violations – 8
Defective Equipment – 8
Fail to Yield Right of Way – 2
Following Too Close (tailgating) – 2
Bicycle violations – 2
Inattention to Driving – 2
Failure to Yield to Pedestrians – 1
The overall goal of the Aurora Avenue emphasis patrol is to promote safe driving behavior, not necessarily to write tickets. Tickets are however, a product of traffic law enforcement.
The goals of the Aurora Traffic Safety Project are to save lives, promote safe driving behavior, reduce collisions, reduce traffic congestion due to collisions and unsafe driving, and improve pedestrian mobility along and across Aurora Avenue.