The number of violations on some Colorado highway toll lanes has fallen by 80% since the state started issuing tickets with an automated enforcement system last year.
The cameras primarily catch drivers weaving in and out of toll lanes, which can be especially dangerous during rush hour compared to the parallel general-purpose lanes.
The system came online last September, and since then an average of 5,625 violations were mailed to drivers every day. That quickly fell to around 3,400 and has steadily dropped since then.
Most recently, an average of just over 1,100 tickets were mailed daily at the tail end of June which indicated a drop of 80%.
According to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), violators who ignore these rules present hazards to themselves and other roadway users. The safety enforcement program “supports CDOT’s Moving Toward Zero Deaths initiative—eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries on Colorado roads” it says.
That drop, “is just absolutely amazing,” said Tim Hoover, a spokesman for CDOT, in a statement to CPR.org.
“We're very, very pleased,” he added. “We think that this will almost certainly translate into fewer accidents, fewer crashes on our roads, and probably lives saved and injuries avoided.”
It will take a year or two to collect enough crash data to test that theory, Hoover said.
The enforcement systems are now operational on toll lanes on Interstate 25 north of Denver, C-470 in the southern suburbs, and the Interstate 70 mountain corridor. Cameras on Interstate 25 between Denver and Colorado Springs will be turned on later this year, Hoover said.
“We just wanted to change people's behavior,” he said. “And that's what's happening.”
Hoover said state transportation officials are also considering extending the entry and exit points to the toll lanes, which would give drivers more time and space to make the shift without triggering a violation.
Source: CPR.org, 9News.com
