The drive along E-470 just keeps getting smoother. First, the highway authority scaled back its ridiculously high fines for those who don’t immediately pay their tolls. Now, the authority has created an amnesty period for those users saddled with the outrageous fines — some totaling $1,000 or more.
E-470’s board of directors calls it a “fresh start.” We think it’s common sense. By allowing motorists to pay just their tolls and not the fines, E-470 will begin to see hundreds of thousands of past-due dollars roll in. The fine for missing a monthly payment had been $70 per toll. Tacked on to each of those penalties was a $7 administrative fee. So a month-old toll of $2.50 jumped to $79.50. That’s pretty harsh. Now, a late payment on a month-old toll incurs a $5 penalty. If the toll isn’t paid for a second month, a very reasonable $25 fine is charged. About 100,000 users of the road had delinquent accounts and owed about $1.4 million in tolls and $20.7 million in fees and civil penalties.
To settle your bill, call 303-537-3470.
More claims of excessive force. With two high-profile police cases in the news, the Denver City Council is rightly concerned about the number of lawsuits alleging excessive force by police officers and has decided to review litigation trends of the past few years.
The city sets aside $2 million each year to handle such claims, and typically pays out about $500,000. But Councilman Charlie Brown noted that “it does seem like there’s been a proliferation of these claims lately.” The city needs to know if these claims are going up, what the cause may be, and how that can rectified as soon as possible.
Large fine for a tiny town. The state of Colorado, after a very quick investigation, levied a $30,500 fine against the operators of Tiny Town for allowing an untrained person to operate a train that flipped over, sending 15 people to the hospital. It’s a hefty fine for the popular Colorado attraction, and we hope it doesn’t imperil the small business. However, it sends a message that safety is paramount — no matter the size of the town.
And in this far-right corner … Tom Tancredo chose pro-gun, pro-life former state lawmaker Pat Miller as his running mate this past week. Apparently this was an effort by Tancredo, whose base is the far right, to reach out to the far, far right.
Short Takes is compiled by Denver Post editorial writers and expresses the view of the newspaper’s editorial board.
