COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Springs Police Department's mobile speed cameras have issued more than 10,000 total violations since launching in January, and the cameras are not slowing down for summer.
The department deployed 2 mobile speed cameras earlier this year to crack down on speeding in school zones, parks and neighborhoods. Drivers caught going 11 miles per hour or more over the speed limit received a ticket.
Residents say speeding has been a persistent problem across the city.
"I just see cars flying up and down Van Buren all the time," one resident said.
"Someone is going to get hurt serious because they're speeding up and down the street," another resident said.
The problem has been especially visible near school zones.
"When the school let out, you see people just flying through the school zones and, you know, people getting, people are yelling at people, slow down and stuff like that," one parent said.
Of the 10,330 total violations issued since January, more than half came from parks or neighborhoods, 5,356. The other half were in school zones, 4,974 violations.
Commander Pamela Castro said speeding violations captured by the cameras are not minor infractions.
"Not uncommon for us to issue citations for people going 25 and 30 miles an hour over the speed limit," Castro said.
The fines are civil penalties, meaning no points are added to a driver's license.
"The emphasis on civil is that there's no points associated with these tickets. It doesn't get reported against your license to the DMV," Castro said.
Speeding through a school zone carries an $80 fine. Speeding in a neighborhood carries a $40 fine. Castro said the goal is straightforward.
"We all live in this city too and we just want everybody to get where they're going safely," Castro said.
With school out for summer, the cameras will shift their focus to parks, construction zones and neighborhoods.
"School's out, there's a lot of kids at parks, so you can definitely plan on seeing us near our city parks. We'll be in construction zones when we can safely do that and then in the neighborhoods," Castro said.
Castro said the cameras will return to school zones in the fall. She said they are one tool the department uses to reduce speeding and limit accidents across the city.
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