How do you get traffic camera footage in Seattle?

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

What SDOT and WSDOT cameras keep

On city streets, the cameras belong to SDOT. The city’s undated traffic cameras flyer says the live video goes to SDOT’s operations center for real-time monitoring and to the public Traveler Information Map. It adds: “Traffic camera video is archived in very specific cases for use solely by the Transit Operations Center.” That archived footage is not shared with any other city department or entity and is permanently deleted within ten days.

On state highways such as I-5, I-90 and SR 520, WSDOT runs incident management cameras. Its Digital Imagery Request Form says WSDOT does not store video footage from its intersection and freeway incident management cameras, which it uses for real-time response. The same form covers a different program, roadway imagery indexed by milepost, which WSDOT keeps for 20 years. That program shows the road itself and will not show your crash, though it may help show sight lines or signs.

So a Seattle request to SDOT has to go in fast, and even then the answer will usually be that nothing was archived.

Making a Public Records Act request in Seattle

Washington’s Public Records Act gives agencies five business days to respond. Under RCW 42.56.520, within that time the agency must provide the record, give an internet link to it, acknowledge the request with a reasonable time estimate, ask you to clarify, or deny it.

One rule in this law is especially useful for video. RCW 42.56.100 says that if a request is made when a record exists but is scheduled for destruction in the near future, the agency “shall retain possession of the record, and may not destroy or erase the record until the request is resolved.” With SDOT’s ten-day deletion window, a request filed on day two can be the difference.

SPD’s requesting records page sends public disclosure requests to its Records Request Center, which runs on GovQA. Videos and audio are among the items you can request. The page says the city must make a preliminary response within five business days.

SPD video, collision reports and 911 recordings

Collision reports move faster than disclosure requests. SPD says involved parties, including victims and their legal representatives, can get a collision report without a public disclosure request, usually about 5 to 7 business days after the event.

For body-worn video, SPD’s body worn video page explains that faces and identifying items can be blurred or boxed out when a video is publicly released, and the original, unaltered video is kept under the department’s retention policy. State law adds limits. RCW 42.56.240 exempts specific investigative records when nondisclosure is essential to effective law enforcement or to protect privacy, and subsection (14) covers body camera recordings to the extent nondisclosure is essential to protect a person’s right to privacy.

911 recordings changed hands this fall. According to a city bulletin, starting October 1, 2026, the CARE Department took over from SPD the public disclosure requests and subpoenas for 911 audio, radio and CAD records. Requests go through CARE’s online portal, and CARE can also be reached at (206) 625-5011.

Seattle’s automated traffic safety cameras

Seattle does use enforcement cameras. SDOT’s 2024-2025 annual report, dated September 2026, describes four types: red-light, school zone speed, block-the-box, and transit-only lane cameras. SPD reviews the infractions within the 14-day window set by state law and issues the citations. SDOT says it has co-managed the camera network with SPD since 2006 (SDOT Blog).

Those images are not a shortcut for an injury claim. RCW 46.63.220, subsection (11), says the images and data are for the exclusive use of authorized city or county employees, are not open to the public, and may not be used in a court proceeding unless it relates to a violation under that section. A red-light camera may have photographed the car that hit you, but you generally will not get that photo through a records request.

King County Metro buses, businesses and doorbells

Metro bus cameras exist, but do not assume one was working. In 2013, FOX 13 reported that about 525 Metro buses, 40% of the fleet, had cameras, and that 76 of them, about 15%, were not working when inspected. In November 2024, Metro began a 60-day test of bus-mounted cameras that capture plates of cars in bus lanes, on two coaches on Route 7 and RapidRide E (The Urbanist).

Metro is part of King County, whose public records program takes requests online, by email to PRA.Requests@kingcounty.gov, by mail or in person. Give the route, the direction and the stop. If the bus hit you, see our page on bus accident lawsuits.

Private cameras around Seattle intersections, from corner stores to apartment lobbies and doorbells, are worth asking about in person within a day or two. Ask the owner to export the clip, and follow up with a short written note naming the camera, date and time.

Claims against the City of Seattle

The city’s damage claim page says claims follow RCW 4.96.020 and Seattle Municipal Code 5.24.005, can be filed online, by mail or at the City Clerk’s drop box, and can take upwards of eight weeks to investigate. Under RCW 4.96.020, you cannot sue a local government until 60 calendar days after the claim is presented. Build that wait into your planning.

What this means for your case

In Seattle, the clock is set by SDOT’s ten-day deletion and by private systems that record over themselves. File the SDOT request and your business visits first, then SPD, CARE and King County. Pedestrians and cyclists hit in a crosswalk can read our Seattle pedestrian accident page, and drivers can turn to our Seattle car accident lawyers.

Common questions

Related pages

Injury law FAQs

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 7, 2026.