Speed Traps In Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs is one of the top 10 worst city’s for getting caught up in a speed trap. Colorado Springs police officers lay in wait throughout the city to catch you speeders. “If you have an officer on the side of the road that is not visible and you are going 80 in a 25, then you are guilty of speeding whether he is visible or not,” said Dennis Hartley who is an attorney in Colorado Springs. In Colorado, hiding a police car to catch speeders is legal. According to attorney Dennis Hartley, that is not entrapment. The speeder was caught breaking the law, and the police caught them. Not all speed traps have such a such a clear definition. “A cop is sitting by the 25 mph speed sign which is 20 yards away from the 35 mph speed sign, ticketing people one after another. That is not right,” said Hartley. Hartley says police do have to give you a reasonable amount of time to slow down in areas where the speed limit changes dramatically. “You have a 75 mph zone and you come to a metro that has a 55 mph zone, you have a reasonable period of time to slow down. You are not expected to stand on your brakes into a screeching decrease,” said Hartley. You also have a reasonable amount of time to slow down when you are on downhill slopes. “When you go downhill, you have a reasonable latitude to slow down. You don’t just slam on your brakes on a downhill because that’s dangerous,” said Hartley. The Colorado Springs Police Department issued a statement saying that the department chooses spots for speed traps based on the top 100 accident locations in the city. People who spoke to KRDO said that they have changed their driving habits because of seeing all the speed traps around the Colorado Springs. The Colorado Springs Police Department stresses that at the end of the day, speed traps are all about lowering the number of accidents in the area.