DENVER \u2013 Colorado lawmakers voted Friday to ban red-light cameras \u2013 even though the governor is almost certain to put the brakes on their plan.<\/p>\n
A bill approved by a House-Senate negotiating committee would ban red-light cameras statewide after this year.<\/p>\n
The measure calls for a stricter ban than earlier versions of the bill, which could have allowed continued red-light camera use in school zones and construction zones.<\/p>\n
The latest bill puts lawmakers on a collision course with the governor\u2019s veto pen.<\/p>\n
Gov. John Hickenlooper vetoed two bills last year that would have banned red-light cameras, saying the photo enforcement protects public safety.<\/p>\n
Hickenlooper suggested that lawmakers pursue red-light camera limits, but not a ban. He told lawmakers again this week to review his veto from last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that no one is ever pleased to receive a traffic ticket,\u201d Hickenlooper wrote. \u201cPhoto-enforcement tools may not be universally popular. But some communities feel the need to use them.\u201d<\/p>\n
It appears that lawmakers are unwilling to compromise on the unpopular cameras.<\/p>\n
The statewide ban passed the conference committee 5-1 Friday, meaning it awaits only formal agreement by the full House and Senate next week before heading to the governor\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers supporting a red-light camera ban pointed out that last year\u2019s bill also banned photo speed enforcement, something not mentioned at all in this year\u2019s ban. They disputed the governor\u2019s assertion that a blanket ban on red-light cameras could endanger public safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe use of red-light cameras violates people\u2019s civil liberties and personal privacy,\u201d said Rep. Steve Lebsock, D-Thornton.<\/p>\n
Legislative analysts say eight of the state\u2019s most populous cities use red-light cameras \u2013 Aurora, Boulder, Commerce City, Denver, Fort Collins, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree and Pueblo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Governor likely to veto plan again<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[21,557],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-105528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-cortez","tag-traffic"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105528"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=105528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}