Colorado Speed Camera Bill Is the Government Picking Your Pocket at 6 Miles Over the Limit

Chicago officials went to prison for taking $600,000 in bribes from a red-light camera company.

Now Colorado is expanding its own camera network and dropping the ticket threshold to 6 mph over the limit.

Here's what lawmakers haven't explained: why Highway 119 alone generated nearly 10,000 tickets and over $700,000 in just three months.

One Highway Corridor, $700,000 in 90 Days

Senate Bill 26-152 is being sold as a fairness measure.

Republican Senator Byron Pelton, one of the bill's co-sponsors, says it "puts guardrails in place to ensure speed cameras are used to enhance public safety, not as a money-making tool for some companies taking advantage of loopholes, or local governments who want a new revenue stream."

That sounds good on paper.

But here's what the bill actually does: it drops the ticketing threshold from 10 mph over the limit to 6 mph over – then locks in fine increases for 2035.

Highway 119 alone pulled in over $700,000 from speed cameras in just three months.

That's not a safety program.

That's a toll road without the signs.

Colorado already deploys paired cameras that calculate a driver's average speed across long highway stretches, making it impossible to slow down at the camera and accelerate again.

Ticket you at the beginning of the corridor, ticket you at the end – and now they want to do it at 6 mph over.

The Government Always Says It's About Safety

Here's how this plays out every time.

A city installs cameras, calls it a safety measure, and signs a contract where the camera vendor gets a cut of every ticket.

The money rolls in.

Officials quietly move the cameras to busier corridors to pull in more revenue.

That's not speculation – a Maryland lawmaker testified before a House of Delegates committee that she personally overheard a government official say speed cameras were being relocated specifically to generate more revenue.

In Illinois, red-light cameras collected over $1 billion from drivers between 2008 and 2018.

A former Chicago transportation official went to federal prison for taking $600,000 in bribes from camera company Redflex, which had secured $131 million in contracts with the city.

The Illinois Policy Institute found that up to 40 percent of those cameras made intersections more dangerous – rear-end crashes went up 22 percent at camera locations.

Texas banned red-light cameras in 2019 and extended restrictions to speed cameras, citing privacy violations and documented abuse.

Ohio banned speed cameras in counties and townships in 2025 after lawmakers determined some jurisdictions had positioned cameras on remote highways with one purpose: extraction.

Colorado is moving the opposite direction.

The Bill Has No Safety Requirement

Here is the detail buried in the fine print: Senate Bill 26-152 contains no provision requiring the government to prove its cameras are actually improving safety outcomes.

Not one line.

The bill requires annual transparency reports showing ticket counts and revenue collected.

It requires governments to pay camera vendors a flat monthly fee instead of per-ticket commissions – which sounds like reform until you realize the government itself profits from every citation regardless.

What the bill does not require is any proof that cameras are reducing crashes, injuries, or deaths on Colorado roads.

A freeway study out of Dayton, Ohio found no meaningful relationship between speed camera deployment and crash reduction.

Colorado lawmakers are not asking whether this works.

They are asking how fast the money comes in.

This Is a Tax on Driving

Colorado already collects state income taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, registration fees, and toll revenue.

Now it wants to fine you for driving 6 mph over the limit on a highway where paired cameras are already tracking your speed across miles of road.

Jefferson County was the only government entity to formally oppose Senate Bill 26-152.

Boulder County was the only government to formally support it.

That tells you everything about who this bill serves.

The pattern is the same everywhere this has played out: cameras go up, revenue flows in, the threshold drops, fines climb, and the network expands.

Illinois let it run for a decade and collected $1 billion before anyone faced handcuffs.

Colorado just voted its camera bill out of committee unanimously – and the full Senate vote is next.

Sources:

• Stephen Rivers, "Colorado Thinks Speeding 10 MPH Over Was Too Generous," Carscoops, April 30, 2026.
• Hannah Metzger, "Cameras May Soon Fine Colorado Drivers for Speeding Just a Tiny Bit," Westword, April 30, 2026.
• KYGO Staff, "Colorado Bill Would Let Speed Cameras Ticket Drivers Going Just 6 MPH Over the Limit," 98.5 KYGO, May 1, 2026.
• Illinois Policy Institute, "Illinois Red-Light Cameras Have Collected More Than $1B from Drivers Since 2008," Illinois Policy Institute, November 10, 2020.
• Blog.PhotoEnforced.com, "Why Some States Are Rejecting Speed-Camera Programs," PhotoEnforced, October 2025.