Seeing red and blue lights flashing in the rearview mirror is enough to ruin anyone’s day. However, to make matters worse, if this happens in a “School Zone” in Washington State, several things happen: First, your fine is doubled from the amount listed in RCW 46.63.110. Second, the fine cannot be waived, reduced, or suspended, so don’t waste time asking for a Mitigation Hearing or Deferred Judgment.

This article will focus on the definition of a “school zone” and we’ll leave the question of how your speed was determined for another time. A school zone is defined by RCW 46.61.440. You must slow to 20 mph (unless you are told to slow down) when you “pass any marked crosswalk at school or on a playground when such crosswalk is fully posted with speed limit signs.” standard school or standard playground speed limit signs. The law also allows the speed zone to extend three hundred feet in any direction from the marked crosswalk. The speed zone is limited by RCW 46.61.440(2) to “only include the area consistent with active school or playground use.”

Although the law requires the area to be “fully posted” with “standard school speed limit signs,” RCW 46.61.440 doesn’t tell you what those signs look like. For that, you should go to Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 392-151-035. Since I can’t post photos here, you’ll have to look at the WAC to see the drawings.

Topics to watch:

Do the signs meet the design criteria of WAC 392-151-035?

Does the discovery show that the defendant was within 300 feet?

Is the area compatible with active school or playground use?

When children are present

WAC 468-95-350 governs school zone signs indicating “When Children Are Present.” Under the WAC, these signs are in effect under any of the following conditions:

(1) Scholars are occupying or walking within the marked crosswalk.

(2) School children are waiting on the sidewalk or shoulder of the road and are about to cross the road at the marked crosswalk.

(3) There are school-age children present or walking in the roadway, either on the adjacent sidewalk or, in the absence of sidewalks, on the shoulder within the posted school speed limit zone that extends 300 feet, or other distance established by regulation, in any direction of the marked pedestrian crossing.

Problem to see:

Does the discovery simply say “children were present” or does it really comply with WAC 468-95-350?

Since the law eliminates alternatives like Mitigation or Deferrals, it makes sense to fight School Zone tickets as zealously as possible. Emotional pleas may not work with a judge, but showing that the State’s evidence does not establish critical facts, such as whether or not this area meets the definition of a school zone, will work. Remember, if you don’t fight your ticket, then you can’t win.