DENVER - You often don't see them until it's too late. The flash of a camera makes you realize, you've been caught speeding by Denver's photo radar vans. The photo radar vans park in places you might not expect to see them, and they catch you however they can, even if it means breaking the law.
We turned our cameras on the photo vans and caught them breaking traffic laws and parking illegally on sidewalks, on curbs and on the grass all across the Denver area even though Denver city ordinance clearly states, "parking on unpaved surfacesÂ…is prohibited."
And that's not all.
We could barely keep up with a photo radar van speeding down on Quebec Street, going more than 10 miles over the posted 35 mile per hour limit.
Our cameras were rolling when another photo radar van ran a red light.
We knocked on the van windows looking for answers, but the men who snap pictures of speeders inside the vans wouldn't respond.
Instead they referred us to a Denver police spokesperson.
That spokesperson told FOX 31 news the photo van drivers have been given special police privileges that allow them to park wherever they want, but, he said, the van drivers are expected to behave within the traffic laws.
The Denver Police Department encourages people to report photo radar vans that break the law. You can identify the van by the number on the bumper.
According to the Department of Revenue, photo radar vans generated more than $4 million in revenue for the city between 2009 and 2010.
We turned our cameras on the photo vans and caught them breaking traffic laws and parking illegally on sidewalks, on curbs and on the grass all across the Denver area even though Denver city ordinance clearly states, "parking on unpaved surfacesÂ…is prohibited."
And that's not all.
We could barely keep up with a photo radar van speeding down on Quebec Street, going more than 10 miles over the posted 35 mile per hour limit.
Our cameras were rolling when another photo radar van ran a red light.
We knocked on the van windows looking for answers, but the men who snap pictures of speeders inside the vans wouldn't respond.
Instead they referred us to a Denver police spokesperson.
That spokesperson told FOX 31 news the photo van drivers have been given special police privileges that allow them to park wherever they want, but, he said, the van drivers are expected to behave within the traffic laws.
The Denver Police Department encourages people to report photo radar vans that break the law. You can identify the van by the number on the bumper.
According to the Department of Revenue, photo radar vans generated more than $4 million in revenue for the city between 2009 and 2010.
