(The Center Square) – The city of Colorado Springs will implement a new “Speed Safety Program” that uses radar technology to track and capture photos and videos of speeding vehicles in multiple lanes of traffic going in one direction.
The goal is to use the new program as an alternative method of some enforcement efforts, according to city documents. The city discussed the new programs at the May 14 city council meeting.
“These new speed safety cameras will be used in areas where our most vulnerable pedestrians are – school zones, residential areas, directly around parks, and constructions (by request). We believe that these new cameras will expand our enforcement capabilities to impact driving behavior and ultimately impact public safety on roadways across our community,” Colorado Springs Police Department Senior Public Communications Specialist Caitlin Ford said in an email to The Center Square.
The Colorado Springs Police Department is asking to contract two new vehicles equipped with the new speed safety cameras and two new civilian employees to run the vehicles and record any violators. The department plans to post a public notification announcing the new program on its website.
The city must also comply with new provisions for the Automated Vehicle Identification Systems requirements that came into law in June 2023.
The Automated Vehicle Identification Systems procedure begins with a notice of violation being sent to a registered owner of a vehicle within 30 days of a violation for in-state vehicles and 60 days for out-of-state vehicles. A penalty assessment is sent out within 30 days after a deadline for a notice of violation if no response was made and has instructions on how to pay a bill or to appeal it.
If a registered owner has not paid the fine, a municipal court will send a final order of liability. The debt will be sent to collections only if the registered owner has been personally served with either a notice of violation or a final order of liability and still has failed to pay. Immobilizing or impounding the registered vehicle is not allowed.
Colorado Automated License Plate Readers state statutes require that all video or still images gathered by government entities be destroyed within three years after the recording of images, according to their website.
