We are paying for all those personal-injury ads. Support tort reform.
As a Colorado resident and owner of an independent construction business, I urge Colorado’s congressional delegation to support the BUILD America 250 Act and its bipartisan Fong-Gillen Amendment.
I depend on my vehicle to reach job sites, meet clients, pick up materials, and transport tools and equipment. Driving is essential to my business, so rising auto insurance rates affect both my livelihood and the prices I must charge customers.
Between 2020 and 2025, Colorado drivers experienced a 57% increase in auto insurance rates. Full coverage now averages nearly $1,900 annually. That burden comes as families and small businesses already face higher costs for housing, groceries, utilities, and fuel.
Frivolous lawsuits, fraudulent accident claims, and excessive settlements add costs throughout the insurance system. Coloradans also pay nearly $2,000 annually in hidden “tort taxes” when litigation expenses are passed along through higher prices.
A recent Westword article on described a highly competitive, advertising-driven industry whose firms spend heavily to attract a steady stream of cases. Those financial incentives help explain why some injury lawyers are fighting reforms that could reduce abusive claims and excessive litigation.
The Fong-Gillen Amendment would modernize federal law and curb frivolous lawsuits while preserving justice for legitimate accident victims. It would not provide blanket immunity, erase accountability, or apply retroactively. Businesses and individuals would remain responsible for negligence, misconduct, and unsafe practices, and legitimate victims would retain access to the courts.
Similar state reforms have reduced auto insurance rates by as much as 10%, saving families an average of $400 annually. For small-business owners and working families, that matters. Congress should support this commonsense reform to lower insurance costs and provide meaningful relief. At a time when every dollar counts, lawmakers should put Colorado drivers ahead of the litigation industry’s financial interests.
Carl Ecklund, Frisco
Cameras are a useful crime prevention tool
Re: “” August 28 news story
The pause and/or ban on the use of Flock license plate readers flagging offenders is another law enforcement tool not available in opposing county and city locales like Summit County and now Steamboat Springs. The current anti-government, anti-data, and anti-police paranoia has now infected and disabled a useful crime prevention tool.
As stated by many law enforcement agencies, Flock readers are a valuable tool in their limited arsenal to prevent crime and apprehend offenders. I can understand offenders and criminals being opposed to this useful law enforcement tool. What I don’t understand is that now law-abiding citizens who are in the majority, with no criminal activity to hide, are being subjected to the whims of a loud, outspoken anti-law-enforcement minority. Seems like much to gain and very little to lose.
So, with that in mind, offenders wanting to avoid detection can just head to Summit County and Steamboat Springs where offenders can cruise undetected by law enforcement and go on their merry way without concern. Sound good?
Henry Ferne, Walsenbur
