Unmarked van may have been parked illegally for a year

Got a speeding ticket in Boulder lately? You might just catch a break.

Boulder police and city transportation officials are investigating the possibility that a photo-radar van was parked illegally when it snapped pictures of passing speeders — possibly hundreds of them.

Cmdr. Robert Thomas, who heads the traffic unit for the Boulder Police Department, said he’s looking into allegations that one of the city’s photo-radar units was operating in a clearly marked “no parking” and “tow-away” zone along Broadway, just north of Norwood Avenue in north Boulder.

Boulder resident Mac Fraser, 67, lives near the intersection and said he became concerned when the van started parking in a patch of public landscaping off the road where Broadway merges northbound drivers into a single lane at the crest of a small hill.

“Those that live out here know they either have to slow down or speed up past a car to get into that lane,” Fraser said. “It’s a great speed trap — that’s really all it is.”

Fraser said the van has been snapping pictures of drivers and license plates in the same spot as many as four times a week for more than a year.

“My wife and I actually call each other, and occasionally a friend, when we come down” Broadway, Fraser said. “We’ll just pick up the phone and say, ‘If you’re coming down, the van’s out.’”

After the Camera told Thomas about Fraser’s complaint earlier this week, the commander said he personally drove to the site and looked for himself.

“The citizen’s right,” Thomas said Friday. “You can’t have a van breaking the law and a citizen getting a ticket for breaking the law — that’s not right.”

But Thomas said it’s also not quite as simple as that.

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A guy in colorado came across this sign on a city street. He was puzzled because the sign didn’t say what he was supposed to do to avoid the increased fine.

That sign is in Aurora, CO, which has what are termed safety zones to increase the level of penalties near certain schools and construction sites. If you get a speeding ticket in one of these zones, for example, you can be assessed the regular ticket charge plus an additional fine of at least $100.

Although it’s not shown in this photograph, an Aurora spokeswoman stated that, there are always signs nearby that indicate a school zone or construction area.

I guess this sign is similar to the signs in construction zones in Texas that state “Fine Double When Workers Present”. They just have to be present — not actually working.

Doubled fines and freeway speed cameras could help balance the Colorado state budget.

Colorado lawmakers are looking to the highway patrol to assist efforts to balance the state budget. Earlier this month a state legislative panel unanimously approved a proposal to more than double the cost of speeding tickets and other minor traffic infractions. Colorado Legislative Council staff estimated the change could generate more than $14.7 million in extra revenue from the 208,000 motorists who receive traffic tickets annually, with the state only paying a one-time cost of $33,600 to reprogram court computers with the higher fine amounts.

State House Transportation Committee Chairman Buffie McFadyen (D-Pueblo West) introduced the fine legislation as well as a second measure that would make “work zone” speed traps mandatory. Under the proposal, photo radar would generate automated citations from speeding drivers and a “move over” provision would be used to cite the motorists who are not speeding.

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