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The Senate Transportation Committee has advanced a bill that would allow Seattle to use automated traffic safety enforcement cameras to nab drivers blocking crosswalks and intersections, or transit-only lanes.

搁贰尝础罢贰顿:听Seattle 鈥榖lock the box鈥� bill could get second life in Olympia

The bill was requested by Seattle city leaders, including Mayor Durkan and Councilmember Mike O鈥橞rien. The city wants to expand the use of the cameras to enforce those blocking drivers, but needs the state鈥檚 approval to do so, hence the bill from Democratic Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon.

The bill was presumed dead when it missed a key cut off deadline earlier in the legislative session, but Fitzgibbon managed to revive it by adding a provision that puts revenue from the camera tickets into a state highway safety fund.

is significantly stripped down from the original version. In its current form, violators would only be issued warnings until 2020. After January 1 of that year, citations would then be issued for anyone committing their second and/or subsequent offense after that date.

At Wednesday鈥檚 Senate Transportation Committee hearing, Captain Sean O鈥橠onnell with SPD鈥檚 traffic division told lawmakers that cameras will be a huge help in enforcing these traffic laws.

鈥淭he violations this bill addresses can currently only be addressed by a law enforcement officer who personally witnesses the violation. Ultimately, the goal of enforcement is not to issue citations — it is to change behavior. At many of our most congested locations, meaningful behavior change may be temporarily affected through emphasis patrols, but emphasis patrols as well as singular on-viewed violations create their own hazards,” O鈥橠onnell explained.

O’Donnell stressed that among other things, emphasis patrols are resource intensive, and require moving officers off of their regular patrol duties, and away from being able to respond to other traffic issues like crashes.

He said writing tickets or giving warnings in person also clogs up city streets, since officers generally have to make those stops in busy traffic lanes, which can also be a safety issue in and of itself.

Then there is the issue of officer safety, which O鈥橠onnell said cannot be overstated.

鈥淓very year, officers are seriously injured or killed when struck be vehicles while they鈥檙e engaged with stopped motorists,” O鈥橠onnell said.

Jeff DeBeer with the Washington Trucking Association wasn鈥檛 totally opposed, but expressed some concerns on behalf of the organization.

鈥淲e agree with the underlying policy, but with the automated enforcement I think it imposes some problems that a camera just can鈥檛 see,鈥滵eVere explained.

鈥淚magine a truck — which is fairly long — has to have enough room when they cross that intersection so they don鈥檛 block it. So they鈥檒l stay on one side of the intersection, wait until there is enough room and then of course when they start moving forward, two cars jump into that area so they鈥檙e stuck in the middle of that intersection, and no there鈥檚 a photo taken of the license plate without having that background, or that discretion that an on-the-scene officer would have to use that judgment,鈥� DeVere added, offering to work with lawmakers on a potential exemption for truckers, at least during peak hours.

搁贰尝础罢贰顿:听City of Seattle seeks camera enforcement for blocking the box聽

Anti-tax activist Tim Eyman spoke against the bill.

鈥淚 just hate ticketing cameras. Voters hate ticketing cameras. Conservatives hate ticketing cameras. Progressives hate ticketing cameras,鈥� Eyman exclaimed.

鈥淚t鈥檚 basically taxation through citation,鈥� Eyman added.

However, Anna Zivarts with a group associated with Disability Rights Washington told lawmakers this was about public safety, especially for those in wheelchairs, who can鈥檛 finish crossing the street if their ramp is blocked.

鈥淲hen drivers block intersections and curb ramps, they are not only making crossing difficult for pedestrians — they are also putting our lives at risk,鈥� she explained,

Zivarts pointed to a Georgetown University study finding that those in wheelchairs were 33 percent more likely to be killed by drivers than other pedestrians, and that more than half of those deaths occur at intersections.

With the bill now advanced out of the Senate Transportation Committee, Democratic Chair Steve Hobbs noted it was still a work in progress.