Colorado drivers can handle a speed limit sign. What they can’t wrap their heads around is a camera citation that runs $340 when every rule on the books says it should top out before hitting 50 bucks.

That’s the tension brewing in Kersey, a small Weld County town sitting off County Road 49 near Highway 34.

Kersey runs an automated camera on a stretch where the limit drops from 65 to 45 in less than a quarter-mile

The traffic camera sits about a hundred feet past the sign.

If the system clocks you at 25 mph or more over, the bill shows up at $340.

This isn’t a rarity, either. 9 News reported that the town sent more than 40,000 such citations beginning in May 2025.

Oddly, Kersey’s own ordinance, passed in March, mirrors Colorado state law from 2023. Both cap traffic camera-radar fines at $40 on regular roads and $80 in school or construction zones. 

There’s no mention of a higher tier for bigger speed violations. Yet people keep getting hit with these $340 notices

Colorado driver Traci Miller of Highlands Ranch said she took a lake trip in September. Later, she opened her mail and found the triple‐digit fine waiting for her.

She reported that she disputed it through the town’s automated system. But she hasn’t heard a thing since.

Another motorists, Ashley Mrazik, drives that corridor daily. She said she collected six tickets before the first one even reached her mailbox.

Mrazik already owes more than $2,000. She said she’s called and left messages but hasn’t received a response.

But the local police department doesn’t see an issue with the fines.

Kersey, Colorado, Police Chief Jonathan Lange said a carveout in state law lets towns charge more when drivers exceed the limit by 25 or more

He argued that a police stop for that speed would trigger a court summons and points, so the $340 ticket avoids that hassle.

A criminal defense attorney who reviewed Kersey’s ordinance disagreed. He said the local rule takes priority and caps the fine at $40 unless the speeding happens in a school or construction zone.

State Rep. Meg Froelich, who co-sponsored the law, explained that the intent was safety, not revenue. By the way, Kersey has collected more than $400,000 dollars since May, and most of it came from these higher priced tickets.

Lange said he’s now reviewing the situation.