Colorado just deployed a speed camera system that fundamentally changes the cat-and-mouse game between drivers and enforcement. And if you're relying on Waze to warn you where the cameras are, you're out of luck.
Traditional speed cameras are easy to game. Slow down when Waze alerts you, pass the camera, speed back up. The enforcement is location-specific, so community-reported warnings work. Colorado's new system doesn't work that way.
Automated Vehicle Identification Systems
The state deployed AVIS (Automated Vehicle Identification Systems) that use multiple cameras to calculate your average speed between fixed points. Instead of catching you going 80 mph at one location, the system measures how long it takes you to travel between Camera A and Camera B. If your average speed over that distance is 10 mph or more over the limit, you get a ticket.
There's no way to game this with real-time warnings. You can't slow down at a specific location because the system is measuring your entire journey between checkpoints. If you averaged 85 mph across a 10-mile stretch, it doesn't matter that you slowed to 60 mph when you saw a camera.
Waze becomes useless. Even knowing where the cameras are doesn't help you avoid the ticket.
How it's being rolled out
Colorado started with warnings after a 2023 law change, then began issuing tickets in late 2023. A new section on I-25 north of Denver started ticketing on April 2, 2026.
The fine is $75 with zero points on your license. Tickets are issued to the vehicle owner regardless of who was driving, which is standard for automated enforcement but still feels wrong from a liability perspective.
From a pure traffic safety perspective, average speed enforcement probably works better than point cameras. It encourages consistent speed rather than the brake-gas-brake pattern that traditional speed cameras create. Studies from other countries with similar systems show reduced accidents.
But from a civil liberties perspective, this is continuous surveillance of vehicle movement. The cameras need to track your license plate from Point A to Point B to calculate average speed, which means they're recording everyone's movements, not just speeders.
The surveillance creep question
