Electronic surveillance of the toll express lanes that Colorado’s Department of Transportation relies on to reduce highway traffic congestion meant computers kicked out $57 million in fines mailed to drivers this past year for crossing double-white lines.

The automated enforcement has registered more than 463,488 violations — about 1,500 per day.

But drivers who contend they had good safety and other reasons for their actions complain that CDOT’s system, which uses license plate information and artificial intelligence to track alleged offenders, gives insufficient opportunity to dispute fines — compelling drivers to pay $75 within 20 days to avoid a doubled penalty of $150. To request an administrative review hearing, drivers must pay an extra $30, money they lose if out-of-state attorneys hired by CDOT deny their disputes.

“We’re supposed to be a nation of laws and rights,” said Ed Davidson, 70, a retired dentist in Denver who was fined after he followed Google Maps guidance into an express lane that he says he couldn’t exit safely without crossing white lines. He used a website to upload his dispute and documentation. CDOT’s contractor sent back a denial 13 minutes later, seemingly automatically, causing Davidson to question whether meaningful review occurs.

“It’s not like I am being thrown in jail and wrongly accused of killing somebody. It is very minor. But, still, it is an injustice.”

CDOT leaders launched their automated enforcement a year ago, relying on a Denver-based tolling contractor, Blissway, to conduct surveillance and issue fines. CDOT, which uses the money to run express lanes and for highway maintenance, later hired the out-of-state law firms to adjudicate disputes using an online process.

The constitutionality of automated traffic enforcement has been challenged in many jurisdictions (Colorado lawmakers have approved use of red-light and speed camera enforcement). Under CDOT’s system, the contract attorneys must conduct 15-minute Zoom review hearings for drivers who pay the $30 fee. The attorneys are limited in what they can consider — vehicle ownership is the focus — and don’t have the authority to reduce penalties regardless of the facts drivers present.

Colorado officials activated enforcement on Interstate 25 north of Denver and the C-470 beltway in October 2023 following an introduction in July 2023 on I-70 mountain express lanes. They plan to do the same on the I-25 express lane between Castle Rock and Monument and other express lanes around metro Denver.

Drivers are supposed to enter and exit express lanes only at designated points across dashed white lines. Blissway set up a network of sensors, cameras, and artificial intelligence-assisted tracking technology after state lawmakers boosted CDOT’s authority to crack down on drivers who weave in and out of express lanes to avoid paying tolls.

Among the drivers complaining about fairness, former state Rep. Kurt Huffman is appealing in Douglas County Court, seeking an independent review of the system. Huffman has raised concerns at CDOT transportation investment office board meetings, testifying that the state’s legal contractors re-scheduled his requested administrative review hearings twice because “judges” weren’t available, before a hearing in March where an attorney denied his dispute.

Huffman argues he had a right to see the evidence around any alleged “safety violation” and have a hearing before paying fines. When he appealed his dispute beyond CDOT to Douglas County Court, a judge on July 17 denied a state attorney general motion to dismiss the case and ordered mediation. The mediation, held Monday, did not resolve the case.

“This is bullying people into paying up,” said Huffman, who served as an appointed Douglas County state representative for seven months.

Similarly, Highlands Ranch resident Jeff Weller says CDOT’s system relies on “intimidation.” Depending on traffic and road conditions, drivers cannot always safely enter and exit express lanes in the allowed space, Weller said. He has received at least six tickets from automated enforcement since October 2023 and is “ignoring them” as a matter of principle, he said.

CDOT first contracted with a Los Angeles law firm in November 2023, then with another law firm in Houston in March 2024, to provide “administrative law judicial services” in handling tickets, according to state documents reviewed by The Denver Post. Teams of lawyers and paralegals are paid up to $610 an hour under the contracts to review uploaded dispute materials and hold 15-minute hearings.

Roughly one in 10 drivers accused of violations initially disputed their fines using a website, state records show, and of the $57 million in fines imposed, $27 million hadn’t been paid as of Aug. 11. Only 1,277 drivers accused of crossing double white lines have paid the $30 “adjudication fee” to request an administrative review hearing.

Colorado Transportation Investment Office board members decided in August to deploy a Texas-based collections agency to pursue payment from drivers who fail to pay fines due for more than 30 days.

CDOT officials weren’t made available to discuss their automated enforcement. CDOT rejected a Denver Post request under the Colorado Open Records Act to observe an administrative review hearing. The agency could not say how many hearings have been held.

“CDOT believes it is important to enforce these traffic laws because we are already seeing evidence that the enforcement is changing driving behavior,” spokesman Matt Inzeo said, citing I-70 express lanes data showing that 80% of drivers who received a ticket have not received a second one.

“We anticipate doing similar enforcement on other express lanes as they come online.”

The agency’s communications staffers are aware of complaints from drivers caught on camera crossing white lines, typically invalid excuses such as blaming a car in front moving too slowly, pointing out that other drivers were violating the rule, and claiming they weren’t driving the car, agency spokesman Tim Hoover said. One driver complained that a child in the vehicle was vomiting, forcing the driver to cross white lines into an express lane, Hoover said.

Drivers who receive tickets also receive information on how to contest them using a website that leads to a drop-down menu listing categories. These include: “Vehicle was stolen,” “I have never owned this vehicle,” “Rental,” “I no longer own this vehicle,” “Vehicle owner deceased,” “Leased,” “Bankruptcy,” and “other.”

When Davidson received his ticket this summer, none of those categories fit his factual circumstances. So he chose “other.” He had set out in June from his home in central Denver to visit the Denver Botanic Gardens native plants refuge near Chatfield Reservoir and relied on Google Maps directions that led him south on I-25, then west along C-470 into an express lane. “It was completely unfamiliar territory for me and in the seconds between where it told me to take the express lane and then leave the express lane” — he estimated this was a fraction of a mile — Davidson found he could not check for oncoming vehicles and exit safely to reach his destination.

He uploaded his account and screenshot documentation on July 9 and received an immediate auto-reply at 11:41 a.m. confirming his dispute was submitted, his records show. At 11:54 a.m., another email arrived. “Dispute Denied,” it said, advising him to pay $75 by July 23 “to avoid additional escalation, fees, collection action, and/or a registration hold on the vehicle as provided by law.”

Davidson paid. He also re-read ticket information on how to request a review hearing where the hearing officer “does not have the legal authority to negotiate, waive, or lessen the civil penalty amount, extend the payment period, or grant a payment plan.” A $30 “adjudication fee” would be assessed if the hearing officer found him liable.

Such a hearing “serves no purpose other than to collect additional money, since the hearing officer has no authority to change anything,” Davidson said.

At least he made it to the gardens, he said. “Definitely worth a visit. Just don’t cross any double white lines.”