As Colorado becomes another battleground state for red-light cameras and speed cameras, lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban photo enforcement throughout the state.

Senate Bill 12-50, introduced by Sen. Scott Renfroe, “repeals the authorization for municipalities to use automated vehicle identification systems to identify violators of traffic regulations and issue citations based on photographic evidence, and creates a prohibition on such activity.”

Colorado would join fifteen other states that have banned the use of automated enforcement if the current bill is passed and signed into law.

Photo enforcement programs throughout Colorado have recently come under increasing scrutiny. Denver’s program came under fire after revelations that cameras had been recalibrated to ticket motorists who stopped beyond the white line. Nonetheless, the Denver City Council recently renewed its contract with ACS. And Colorado Springs pulled the plug on its cameras last October after concluding they were not improving safety.

Colorado Springs made the right decision. Photo enforcement programs put revenue generation before public safety, to the detriment of motorists. It’s time to take the profit motive out of traffic enforcement by banning cameras in Colorado. (Learn more about the NMA’s objections to red-light cameras and speed cameras.)

SB 12-50 has been referred to the Senate Transportation Committee. We urge you to contact committee members along with your local Senate and House members to let them know you support a ban on photo enforcement cameras in Colorado.