A KIRO 7 investigation found officers wrote thousands of speeding tickets in Everett, Seattle, and Renton last year, with the top spot in Seattle racking up over 400 tickets.
And while 2025 saw a slight decrease in traffic deaths in Western Washington from the record high in 2024, numbers are still significantly higher than they were pre-pandemic.
“The traffic is crazy,” Louise Lofgren told KIRO 7.
She lives just off 140th Avenue Southeast in Renton.
“It’s horrible!” she said.
She won’t even walk her daughter’s dog, Canella, outside of their immediate neighborhood. Lofgren said cars speed all the time as they head toward or away from Maple Valley Highway at the bottom of the hill.
“The speed limit is 40. How many people do you think are doing 40 or 45?” KIRO 7 reporter Linzi Sheldon asked.
“None!” Lofgren said.
KIRO 7 rode along with Renton Police Traffic Officer Marty Leverton to see that area and some of the other top speeding spots in Renton.
“They think twenty over isn’t a big deal,” Leverton said. “But the reality is twenty over is a big deal and that people get hurt from that.”
KIRO 7 watched his speed gun measure someone speeding on Maple Valley Highway, west of the golf course.
“Measured your speed back there at 59 in a 40,” he said, standing at the driver’s side window. “Any reason for your speed?”
That driver was speeding and had no insurance. The ticket was $786.
KIRO 7 obtained the speeding ticket data for the entire city of Renton for 2025 up to the end of September.
Reporter Linzi Sheldon discovered the exact spot where Leverton caught him is where police wrote the most speeding tickets in 2025, with 39.
Oakesdale Avenue at Southwest 34th had 28 speeding tickets to come in third place, while 140th Avenue Southeast near 156th was in second with 35.
That’s where Leverton spotted Mary Misikov going 55 in a 40 zone with expired tabs.
“I knew I was speeding but I didn’t think I was going that fast,” Misikov said.
Dan Brothers was pulled over for speeding in the same area.
He lives off 140th Avenue Southeast but said it’s easy to go with the flow of traffic, especially if you’re trying to switch lanes.
“Despite [the ticket], you want more cops in the area,” Sheldon said.
“Oh, definitely,” he said. “I was in the wrong. I made a mistake. That’s my fault. But we definitely need more cops because it’s just scary driving around up here, and I’m worried that more people are going to die.”
Brothers said when police pulled him over, they told him it was part of emphasis patrols after the speeding crash on 140th and 192nd that killed a woman and three children. The driver, Chase Jones, pleaded guilty last year. Police said he ran a red light at the intersection and was going 112 miles an hour right before the crash.
Brothers said he often hears racing up and down 140th.
“They could probably be going upwards of 100 miles an hour going down the hill,” he said.
That kind of speed was the problem on Rainier Avenue South in Seattle.
“Neighbors call it Rainier Raceway,” Kat Sims said. “Gives you a pretty good idea. It’s a really, really dangerous road.”
Sims pushed for changes along Rainier Avenue for years as part of the Rainier Avenue Traffic Safety Alliance.
There have been multiple crashes, with some cars even flying into people’s homes.
“I’ve seen cars hit pedestrians and keep going,” Sims said.
KIRO 7 discovered 9800 Rainier Avenue South was the top spot for speeding tickets in the city of Seattle last year, with a whopping 450 tickets.
But there have been improvements to slow people down, including the addition of paint markings on the street itself to mark the speed limit of 25 miles an hour.
Bollards now also break up the road as a median of kinds in some parts of the road.
And patrols have been essential, Sims said.
“Having SPD out on a regular basis for several months really has made a big difference in slowing traffic down,” she said.
The other top two spots in Seattle were the 4200 block of 1st Avenue South in SoDo, with 116 tickets, and 113 tickets in the 4500 block of 1st Avenue South.
In Everett, KIRO 7 found out the top location was at West Marine View Drive and 10th Street, right by the port, where people got 51 tickets.
The other top locations were Evergreen Way near 44th with 47 tickets and 3rd Avenue Southeast right at 99 with 42 tickets.
Renton Police told KIRO 7 that officers pick their spots with collision data, patrol knowledge, and traffic engineering.
“If people are seeing a lot of speeding in their area, can they reach out to police and say, ‘Hey, police come here?’” KIRO 7 reporter Linzi Sheldon asked.
“Yes, we get that often,” Sgt. Corey Jacobs said. “We have a tool called C-Click Fix that we use… send us a complaint, we’re coming.”
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