Colorado to begin using photo radar cameras on highways

State transportation officials plan to deploy photo radar cameras on highways this spring to automatically enforce speed limits as part of a stepped-up campaign to drive crash numbers lower and reduce roadway deaths.

The Colorado Department of Transportation will install speed cams in several construction zones starting in April, State Traffic Engineer San Lee said. CDOT hasn’t disclosed the specific locations. Eventually, CDOT will expand automated enforcement to other areas where drivers exceeding limits cause crashes, Lee said.

“We want to start slow and then evolve into eventually going into specific corridors and school zones,” he said, suggesting Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon as a possible highway corridor in the future.

“It is data-driven,” he said. “We don’t want to jump into a blanket approach.”

The cameras come even as vehicle crashes are decreasing.

Statewide, crashes dropped 22% from 122,356 in 2018 to 95,657 in 2024, according to CDOT data. A decade ago, annual crashes consistently exceeded 115,000. Traffic fatalities statewide also have decreased — to 684 in 2024, down by 10% from a record 764 in 2022.

“We’re seeing successes in key areas,” Colorado State Patrol Chief Col. Matthew Packard said, pointing to speed limit enforcement by 740 state troopers and safer vehicles as factors.

Speed cameras will help drive a bigger decrease in crashes, Packard said. “The data shows that automated enforcement works. Anything that makes our roads safer, the State Patrol supports it.”

At least a dozen municipalities including Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, and Pueblo already enforce speed limits using photo radar speed cams, which in the past were restricted under state law to school zones, neighborhoods, construction zones, and roads near parks. In 2023, lawmakers changed state law to allow speed camera enforcement in any area governments designate as a speed corridor where they’ve collected speeding and crash data. Colorado law requires signs to notify drivers at least 300 feet before the start of a corridor and by each camera. Last year, lawmakers boosted CDOT and CSP authority to deploy automated enforcement systems to detect traffic violations on state highways.

Around the United States, courts consistently have supported the constitutionality of automated speed limit enforcement. The National Highway Safety Administration, which recommends state authorizing statutes, has found that installing speed cameras to enforce limits prevents collisions and reduces serious injuries and deaths.

Colorado lawmakers over the past three years have passed road safety laws including a ban on handling cellphones while driving (CDOT counted 10,333 “distracted driving” crashes in 2023), a requirement that children ride in booster seats until age 9, and a “move over law” requiring drivers to slow down and shift lanes if possible to avoid stopped vehicles.