Have a question about social, personal, or legal decorum in the neighborhood? Send it our way and we will take a crack and finding the answer.

Yesterday, we received this query from Bo:

Whizzing past Green Lake Elementary today, I thought with great pleasure how nice summer is: yes, it may be difficult to know when to wear a jacket in this city in July, but at least we don’t have to go 25 MPH in school zones!

But wait … do we? My conscious got the better of me and I thought that you might know.

photo credit: Podknox

Yes, dear speeder reader, you still need to keep it slowwwww, at least in Green Lake Elementary’s designated school zone:

Q: Some of the schools now have speed enforcement cameras that state “25 mph when lights are flashing or when children are present.” When stating “present,” do they mean when they are out of the building playing, or is it during the entire school year? … When in doubt, I’ve gone 25 mph, but have had people honk at me.

A: “There are many elements to it,” Seattle Department of Transportation spokesman Rick Sheridan said. “But basically, the school zone signs are in effect when children are near the roadway during times in which they are going to and from school.”

If a school does not hold summer classes, the school speed limit does not apply, he said.

“If one child were around the roadway at say 10 in the morning, that’s not the normal time for children in the school zone area, so that wouldn’t necessarily qualify the school speed limit,” Sheridan said.

Seattle Police spokesman Mark Jamieson referenced Seattle Municipal Code 11.52.100, which states the speed zone at the crosswalk shall extend 300 feet in either direction from the marked crosswalk, and the school or playground zone may extend 300 feet from the border of the school or playground.

But those restrictions may include only the area consistent with active school or playground use.

Seattle Public Schools spokesman David Tucker said the following schools have classes during parts of the summer:

Ballard High School
Cleveland High School
Aki Kurose Middle School
Denny Middle School
Whitman Middle School
Van Asselt Elementary School
Green Lake Elementary School
John Hay Elementary School
Roxhill Elementary School

But several private schools also hold summer classes. When in doubt, lay off the accelerator, police say.

[Seattle 911: A Police Blog]