Pacific, Washington School Zone Cameras Fine $200 to $290 After 30 Days

• The city of Pacific, Washington has switched on more school zone speed cameras near Alpac Elementary School, and the first 30 days bring only a mailed warning with no fine.
• After the warning period, the city code sets a $200 fine for 6 to 9 mph over the limit and $290 for 10 mph or more over.
• Washington law keeps camera tickets off the registered owner’s driving record, and the city says insurance companies are not told either.

What Changes the Day the Free Warnings Stop

Drivers on Milwaukee Boulevard North in Pacific, Washington are now on camera in a school zone. The city has activated additional speed cameras near Alpac Elementary School: the northbound lanes are covered at the 100 block of Milwaukee Boulevard North, and the southbound lanes at the 300 block. A driver caught speeding in either direction receives a notice in the mail stamped “warning”. That notice carries no fine.

The free pass has a clock on it. The warning period runs 30 days, and fines begin once it ends. The city has not announced an exact first day of fines. The announcement came on Thursday, November 12, 2026, so if the clock started that day, the 30 days run out around December 12. A driver who treats the first envelope as the end of the matter and keeps the same habits through the zone will meet the second one with a price on it.

Pacific’s code, Ordinance No. 2024-2092 and Pacific Municipal Code section 10.70.080, sets the school zone fines. A driver going 6 to 9 mph above the limit pays $200. A driver going 10 mph above the limit or faster pays $290. The gap between the tiers is $90, which makes the top tier 45 percent more expensive than the lower one.

Where the Cameras Are and What the City Checks

The Alpac Elementary cameras are the second Pacific location. The city launched speed cameras at Interurban Trail Park along 3rd Avenue SW in October 2026, with its own 30-day warning period. Other states run the same warning-first approach: the school zone cameras across Connecticut give drivers a grace period of 30 to 45 days before $50 to $75 first fines.

Pacific’s school fines are the park zone fines doubled. The city set $100 for 6 to 9 mph over and $145 for 10 mph or more over in a public park speed zone, and school zone fines run twice those amounts. At the October launch, Lieutenant Terry Carter of the Pacific Police Department said: “Our focus is on protecting residents and families by encouraging drivers to slow in high-risk areas. These cameras will provide consistent enforcement where speeding poses the greatest safety concern.” “We want Pacific to be a safe community for everyone—where no life is lost to speeding,” Carter said. “This program is a critical step toward that goal.”

Washington law lets a city point speed cameras at several kinds of places. RCW 46.63.250(2) lists hospital zones, public park zones, school speed zones, school walk zones, crash prevention zones, roadway work zones (a ticket requires workers on site) and state highways that double as city streets. A school walk zone covers roads within one mile of a school that students use to get there on foot or by bike. A school speed zone takes its meaning from RCW 46.61.440.

A person reviews every case before a notice goes out. The city says its personnel check all potential violations first. The state sets who qualifies for that job under RCW 46.63.030(1)(d): a civilian employee of a Washington police agency, or a public works or transportation employee working under a traffic engineer, trained and certified by peace officers or by the city’s traffic engineers. Two kinds of vehicle never receive a camera speeding notice at all, a marked fire engine running lights and siren and a state-licensed ambulance doing the same.

What Washington Law Requires of the City

A city cannot hang cameras on a whim. RCW 46.63.220(2) requires an ordinance passed by the city’s legislative body, and that ordinance must carry the state’s restrictions plus rules for public notice and signs. The city also posts its camera policies on its website. Pacific’s release says its location studies followed RCW 46.63.220.

That review comes before any new camera. The city has to look at equity, including how a camera site affects livability, accessibility, economics, education and environmental health. It then has to show a demonstrated need near the site, drawing on one or more of these: travel by vulnerable road users, evidence of speeding, collision rates, reports of near collisions, and the failure or impracticality of other fixes. A camera cannot sit on an on-ramp to a limited access facility.

Signs come first. RCW 46.63.220(7) requires each camera location to carry signs at least 30 days before the camera goes live. The signs say either that cameras are authorized in the area or that the driver is entering a zone enforced by camera, and drivers approaching the camera must be able to see them clearly. Signs follow the state transportation department’s uniform traffic control manual.

The cameras collect little. They record the vehicle and its plate, and only while a violation happens. No image can show the face of the driver or a passenger. Only authorized city employees see the photographs and any personal data, the public cannot request them, and the city cannot use them for anything but enforcing camera violations or hold them longer than enforcement needs. The city must also place cameras so the flash disturbs drivers as little as possible.

Money rules apply too. The company that supplies and runs the equipment is paid for the equipment and services, never a cut of fines or camera revenue. Under RCW 46.63.220(13), camera revenue can fund only traffic safety work, such as construction, maintenance, road designs that slow traffic and improvements for people walking and biking, along with the cost of running the cameras and processing tickets. A camera placed in use after June 6, 2024 sends 25 percent of the money left after those costs to the state’s Cooper Jones active transportation safety account, starting four years after it goes in. Programs already running before January 1, 2024 have exceptions.

Residents can check the results. The city must post an annual report with the number of crashes at each camera location and the number of notices issued per camera. From January 1, 2026, that report also shows what share of camera revenue paid for the program and how any surplus was spent. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission reports to the legislature’s transportation committees each year, beginning July 1, 2026.

The Fine, the Record and the Insurance Question

RCW 46.63.220(16) caps a camera fine at $145, adjusted for inflation every five years beginning January 1, 2029, but allows that amount to double for a school speed zone. Doubling $145 gives $290, the top Pacific tier, and the $200 tier sits below it. Other cities set their own amounts: the West Philadelphia speed cameras issue $100 to $150 tickets on Route 13.

The same subsection answers the record question. Camera infractions do not count on the registered owner’s driving record, and the state handles them the way it handles parking tickets. The city adds that these are civil infractions that go neither to insurance companies nor onto a driver’s record, so a camera ticket in Pacific costs the fine and nothing on the license.

Drivers on public assistance get a discount on paper. An owner who gets public assistance under Title 74 RCW, or who participates in the state’s WIC nutrition program for women, infants and children, can ask to pay half. The cut applies to a first camera ticket and to any further camera ticket dated within 21 days of it. On Pacific’s tiers, that means $100 instead of $200, or $145 instead of $290. Eligibility for Medicaid alone does not qualify. The city must tell recipients about the reduction and let them apply by mail or online, and a city can also adopt an online calculator that grants reduced fines based on ability to pay.

What to Do With a Warning or a Notice

Treat the warning as the one free lesson. It carries no fine, and it tells the owner a camera caught the car over the limit on Milwaukee Boulevard North. Slow down through the zone now. The same cameras keep running when the warning period closes, and the fine tiers start at 6 mph over the limit.

The notice of infraction goes to the registered owner, and the city must mail it within 14 days of the violation. A certificate based on the photographs or electronic images must come with it, stating the facts behind the notice. Drivers can review the photo and video evidence online, and the state lets a person respond to a camera notice by mail.

The registered owner is responsible for the infraction unless the owner overcomes the presumption in RCW 46.63.075, which treats the owner as the person who was driving. Under subsection (2), only a sworn statement can overcome it, in writing to the court or in testimony, that the vehicle was stolen at the time or was in someone else’s care, custody or control. A rental car business first gets a written notice and has 18 days to name the renter or driver under oath, to swear the vehicle was stolen and attach the police report, or to pay the penalty.

For the response itself, read the notice, which lists the options and the court. The state’s general traffic infraction rules in RCW 46.63.070 give a person 30 days from the date of the notice to respond. The choices are to pay, to contest the determination and request a hearing, or to admit the infraction and request a hearing to explain mitigating circumstances. A notice of infraction counts as a determination that an infraction occurred and becomes final unless contested. At a contest hearing the state carries the burden of proving the infraction by a preponderance of the evidence. A driver who cannot pay in full can attest to that on the notice and ask about a payment plan under RCW 46.63.190. If no response arrives, the court enters an order assessing the penalty.

Pacific is not alone in adding cameras and warning periods. The Los Angeles speed cameras start with 60 days of $0 warning notices before civil fines of $50 to $500 apply.

Want more car content? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for the best automotive news and analysis on the internet.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow us on Microsoft Start.

Sources

• Washington State Legislature: RCW chapter 46.63, Disposition of traffic infractions
• City of Pacific via EIN Presswire: Pacific, Washington Expands Speed Enforcement to Protect Students
• City of Pacific via National Law Review: Pacific, Washington Activates Traffic Safety Cameras to Reduce Speeding
• KOMO News: City of Pacific activates new school zone speed cameras, fines begin in 30 days

Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar