“Block the box” bill passes both Senate and House

Legislation successfully passed that allows for additional uses for automated traffic safety cameras to include stopping in intersections or crosswalks and obstructing restricted lanes.

HB 1793, sponsored by Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D–Burien), establishes a pilot program for the City of Seattle to use automated traffic safety cameras to issue penalties to drivers that:

• Stop in an intersection or crosswalk;
• Stop when traffic is obstructed;
• Travel in the public-transportation-only lane; or
• Stop and/or travel in a restricted lane.

Furthermore, the bill mandates that a warning notice cannot include a financial penalty under the pilot program until January 2021. After this date, the infraction can include up to a $75 penalty for “blocking the box.”

Currently, automatic traffic safety cameras can be used to cite infractions at stoplights, railroad crossings, school speed zones, and certain other speed zones.

HB 1793 now awaits the Governor’s signature.