Colorado
As Colorado Department of Transportation collects millions from express lane violations, drivers say dispute hearings getting delayed
A safety enforcement program under Colorado’s Department of Transportation is bringing in millions of dollars from drivers entering and exiting the express lanes outside designated areas. CBS Colorado first reported on the numbers in January and found:
- Along the mountain corridor drivers paid around $1.1 million in penalties.
- Along I -25, that number is over $3.5 million.
- Those using C-470 top the list with more than $3.7 million collected in fees.
Those with violations say disputing those tickets isn’t always easy.
“From the west side of town to the east side of town,” Jeffery Farrar said.
Farrar recently started driving senior citizens to medical appointments. He paid to use the C-470 express lane from Wadsworth Boulevard to Broadway — like the sign above the express lanes advertised. He found there’s no designated lane exit at Broadway and rather than continue down the express lane and incur more costs, he crossed the double white line to exit.
Scott Wylie uses a different portion of C-470, an area that is now under heavy construction and has semi-trucks coming on at high speeds.
“The bigger safety issue is not moving out of that center lane over into the toll lane to get out of the way of those trucks,” he said about why he crossed the double white line.
Both have express lane passes but were hit with safety violations for crossing over that double white line. And both disputed those tickets online.
Farrar lost his dispute and chose not to request a hearing. It cost him.
“Now I’m left paying double. I paid $150,” he said after the fine doubled for not being paid in the allotted 20 days.
Wylie is still fighting a violation from November. His dispute was denied even after the department dismissed two other tickets for the same safety concerns. He opted to have the hearing and he believes he can win.
“I’ve been practicing law for 43 years and I’ve represented toll authorities — not this toll authority, not CDOT — but I have represented other toll authorities in Florida, Texas, Colorado, Illinois,” he said.
But the online calendar to schedule that hearing has no open dates and hasn’t for months.
“I had to go to the 800 customer service number on the notice, call them and the rep just laughed when I told her I was unable to schedule a hearing online. She just laughed and said, ‘Well that’s because we have had so many disputes in so many hearing requests that all of the hearing dates in times have been taken,’” he recalls her saying.
Wylie can no longer access the online calendar and weeks of calling to find an opening were unsuccessful. Two months later, he still has no hearing.
He believes others wouldn’t be so persistent.
“That’s why they’re collecting $3.7 million plus dollars, is because everyone doesn’t have the tools and resources to do what I’ve done. Most people are going to give up and say they’re just going to pay it,” Wylie said.
Tim Hoover with CDOT says revenue from safety enforcement is not a priority. In an interview in January, he pointed instead to the changes in behavior that they’ve seen and said “Violations are down 60%. We would like to drive them down even more — as low as they’ll go. … It would be wonderful if we didn’t collect a single dollar in revenue.
A request for records found:
– In the first few months of enforcement CDOT issued 242,695 violations.
– There were around 7,300 disputes and roughly 450 people have asked for hearings. Add in another 34,000 default hearings for those who never responded to their violations and the schedule is no doubt busy.
Hoover declined to do a second interview but says like several other courts there is a wait but that they are trying to hire more administrative hearing officers. He says they are legally required to provide a hearing within 75 days and to date haven’t failed to meet that obligation.
Wiley, who was among the first to be cited when enforcement started in November, is still waiting.
“I would have thought that by now I would have been contacted,” Wylie said.
For those who do get a hearing and disagree with the decision, they can appeal in county court. According to CDOT, only one case has made it that far.
Hoover added that the system is brand new and has never been used before anywhere and they will continue to adjust and improve it as needed, whether that’s making it easier for people to navigate the system when they’ve gotten fines or whether it’s a more streamlined system to appeal fines.
Colorado
Colorado mother says Lakewood crash killed son, left 2 of her children critically injured as driver is arrested
A mother is grieving after a crash in the Denver metro area last weekend left her son brain-dead and two of her other children fighting for their lives.
Lakewood police say 22-year-old Andrew Logan Miller has been arrested in connection with the crash, which happened Dec. 6 around 7:30 p.m. near Kipling Parkway and West 6th Avenue.
Police say Miller was driving an SUV southbound on Kipling Parkway at a high rate of speed when it collided with a bus carrying a wrestling team from Central High School, which is located in Grand Junction in Mesa County.
Sixteen people were taken to hospitals.
Among the injured were three siblings who were riding inside the SUV.
On Friday, their mother, Suleyma Gonzalez, identified them as Julio Gonzalez, 18, Analelly Gonzalez, 17, and Christopher Gonzalez, 14.
Analelly and Christopher remain in critical condition. Julio will never wake up.
“I didn’t want to believe it, until they had to do the second testing where they didn’t find blood going through his brain,” she said. “My other two are in comas.”
Gonzalez said doctors ultimately declared Julio brain-dead.
She describes her children as disciplined students and ROTC members with plans for the future.
“Two of my kids were going to graduate this year,” she said. “No drugs. No alcohol. They were good kids.”
Gonzalez confirmed that Miller, who was driving the SUV at the time of the crash, was her daughter’s boyfriend.
“I know he loved my daughter,” she said. “I don’t think he did this on purpose or intentionally. It was an accident.”
Police say the investigation is ongoing, but believe speed played a major role in the crash.
Miller was arrested Wednesday night and is facing multiple charges, including:
• Vehicular assault (7 counts)
• Speeding 40 mph or more over the limit
• Reckless driving
• Child abuse (2 counts)
• Reckless endangerment
“My kids know when you get in somebody’s car, there’s always a risk. Always,” she said.
Julio’s organs will be donated. He’s on life support, while the hospital searches for matches.
“He wanted to give to the world,” she said. “Now that I can’t get him back, we want to give life to somebody else.”
Miller is currently being held in the Denver County Jail and is awaiting transfer to the Jefferson County Jail. His bond and court appearance have not yet been announced.
Lakewood police say the investigation remains active.
Gonzalez, a single mother of five, says her focus now is on her surviving children and getting clarity.
“I just want answers.”
DENVER, Colo. (KKTV) – The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced Thursday a lawsuit against the Colorado Secretary of State for failure to produce state voter information.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold claims the DOJ sent a “broad” request for the voter registration rolls on May 12.
Griswold says her office complied with the request and “shared the publicly available data consistent with applicable law.” However, the lawsuit against Griswold says that her office did not respond to the letter.
Griswold sent a letter in November signed by several Secretaries of State to the DOJ and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting clarification on how the data would be used, but she claims neither replied to the questions in the letter.
The lawsuit goes on to allege that DOJ attorney Eric Neff followed up by emailing Secretary Griswold on Dec. 1, requesting Colorado’s Statewide Voter Registration list.
Griswold said this request asked the office to share unredacted voter data, including a voter’s full name, date of birth, residential address, and complete state driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
Griswold responded by email on Dec. 3, stating, “We received your request. We will not be producing unredacted voter files or signing the MOU,” the complaint alleges.
The lawsuit cites the Civil Rights Act, which gives the United States Attorney General the power to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of the statewide voter registration lists.
The DOJ is requesting a judge to declare that Griswold violated the Civil Rights Act and to order her to provide the current electronic copy of Colorado’s statewide voter registration list.
Griswold’s office released the following statement:
The DOJ released the following statement regarding the lawsuit:
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